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LIVES 



GOVERNORS OF NEW PLYMOUTH, 



MASSACHUSETTS BAY; 



FROM THE 



LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS AT PLYMOUTH IN Mi TO THE UNION 
OF THE TWO COLONIES IN 1692. 



BY JACOB BAILEY MOORE. 



BOSTON: 

C. D. STRONG, NO. 1 CORNHILL 

1851. 



PREFACE. 



The writer of these pages has formed the design of 
preparing for publication^ Memoirs of American 
Governors — embracing those who have successively 
held the high office of Chief Magistrate, in the sever- 
al Colonies, which now form the United States; to 
to be followed by Memoirs of the Governors of the sev- 
eral States. The intelligent reader has perhaps felt the 
want of such a work. Our best Biographical Dictiona- 
ries contain but meagre sketches of a few of those pub- 
lic men, who have been distinguished as Governors ; 
while of others, who were renowned in their day, and 
exercised an important influence upon the times in which 
they lived, no account whatever is to be found. 

To supply an obvious want, as far as it may be practi- 
cable now to do, is the object of the present undertaking. 
The task is a very laborious and difficult one, but with 
proper diligence, and public encouragement, it may be 
accomplished. It has been the aim of the author to 
make his work full in details, precise in facts, and, as far 
as possible, accurate and reliable as a book of reference. 
Authorities have been carefully scanned; and, to avoid 
the errors of copyists, as well as to reconcile conflicting 
dates, originals have been consulted, whenever they 



IV PREFACE. 

could be found. References to printed authorities, where 
not otherwise specified; are generally to original editions. 
Anachronisms are believed to be best avoided, in history, 
by adhering to dates as originally written; and this 
course has been adopted in the present work. Every in- 
telligent reader understands the difference between the 
Julian and the Gregorian year, or the Old and New 
Style, and can readily make his own computation. 

The general plan of the work will be seen at a glance. 
In order that each volume may be complete in itself, — ' 
embracing the Governors of two or more of the Colo- 
nies, or States, in regular succession, — a chronological 
arrangement has been adopted; and for the conven- 
ience of the reader, a full and particular Index to all 
the names, places and events, mentioned in the work, is 
added. 

The author has been kindly and even liberally assisted 
by numerous individuals, to whom he has applied for in- 
formation. Years ago, when he first commenced the col- 
lection of materials for this work, the rich stores preserved 
in the archives at Plymouth, Boston, and Worcester, 
were freely opened to him. He has since derived much 
assistance from an examination of the books and manu-^ 
scripts of the New York Historical Society, of the Con- 
gress Library, and in particular of the valuable library 
of Peter Force, Esq., of Washington City, whose col- 
lection of manuscripts and books, in the department of 
American History, is unsurpassed in this country, 

Sepleniber, 184G. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I. 

Governors of New Plymouth, from the Landing 
OF THE Pilgrims, in 1620, to the Union of the 
Colony with Massachusetts Bay, in 1692: 

I. * JOHN CARVER, First chosen in 1620, Page 11 

II. *WILLIAM BRADFORD, 1621, 49 

III. *EDWARD WINSLOW, 1633, 93 

IV. THOMAS PRENCE, 1634, 139 

V. JOSIAS WINSLOW, 1673, 175 

VI. THOMAS HINCKLEY, 1680, 201 

PART II. 

Governors of Massachusetts Bay, from the first 
settlement of the colony, in 1630, to the ex- 
PULSION OF Andros, in 1689 : 

I. *J0HN WINTHROP, . . . First chosen in 1630, Page 237 

II. THOMAS DUDLEY, 1634, 273 

III. JOHN HAYNES, 1635, 297 

IV. HENRY VANE, 1636, 313 

V. RICHARD BELLINGHAM, 1641, 335 

VI. JOHN ENDECOTT, 1644, 347 

VII. JOHN LEVERETT, 1673, 367 

VIII. SIMON BRADSTREET, 1679, 377 

IX. JOSEPH DUDLEY, appointed in 1686, 390 

X. EDMUND ANDROS, 1687, 403 

♦ From Original Sketches by Dr. Belknap, with additions and corrections. 



ISoccEssioN OP Governors of the Colokies of New Plymouth and Mas- 
sachusetts Bay, from 1620 to 1692. 



A. D. 


Reigns. 


New Plymouth. 


Massachusetts Bay. 


1620 


James I. 


John Carver. 




1C-!1 


(1 


William Bradford. 




1625 


Charles I. 


" 




1630 


" 


" 


Jolin Winthrop. 


1633 


(( 


Edward Winslow. 


(t 


1634 


(1 


Thomas Prence. 


Thomas Dudley. 


1635 


(( 


William Bradford. 


John Haynes. 


1636 


(C 


Edward Winslow. 


Henry Vane. 


1637 


(C 


William Bradford. 


John "Winthrop. 


1638 


(( 


Thomas Prence. 


a 


1639 


(( 


William Bradford. 


a 


1640 


(( 


(( 


Thomas Dudley. 


1641 


(( 


If 


Richard Bellingham. 


1642 


(( 


♦ (( 


John Winthrop. 


1644 


" 


Edward Winslow. 


John Endecott. 


1645 


a 


William Bradford. 


Thomas Dudley. 


1646 


ti 


(C 


John Winthrop. 


1648 


(£ 


(< 


a 


1649 


Commonwealth. 


" 


John Endecott. 


1650 


(( 


" 


Thomas Dudley. 


1651 


(( 


" 


John Endecott. 


1653 


Oliver Cromwell. 


<( 


'< 


1654 


u 


(( 


Richard Bellingham. 


1655 


a 


(' 


John Endecott. 


1657 


(( 


Thomas Prence. 


" 


1658 


Richard Cromwell. 


'< 


(< 


1660 


Charles II. 


(( 


<( 


1665 


K 


li 


Richard Bellingham. 


1673 


(( 


Josias Winslow. 


John Leverett. 


1679 


(( 


« 


Simon Bradstreet. 


1680 


(f 


Thomas Hinckley. 


(< 


1685 


Jeimes II. 


(( 


« 


1686 


(( 


(< 


Joseph Dudley. 


1687 


i( 


Edmund Andros. 


Edmund Andros. 


1688 


(C 


it 


(( 


1689 


William IIL 


Thomas Hinckley. 


Simon Bradstreet. 


1690 


(f 


(( 


(( 


1691 


(C 

(( 


^ 


, 


1692 


New Plymouth united 


with Massachusetts Bay. 



PART I 



GOVERNORS OF NEW PLYMOUTH 



1620—1692. 



INTRODUCTOHY NOTE. 



At the time of the death of Q,ueen Ehzabeth, in 1603, one hun- 
dred and ten 3^eais after the discovery of America by Columbus, 
no nation except the Spanish had effected a settlement in the New 
World ; and in all the continent north of Mexico, not a single 
European family was to be found. The French, in 1600, began 
to make settlements in Canada and Acadie, and Spanish soldiers 
were stationed at several posts in Florida. Twenty years had 
elapsed since the first fruitless attempt of Sir Walter Raleigh to 
establish a colony in Virginia, and not an Englishman was now 
to be found in that country, and the grant to Raleigh had become 
void, in consequence of his attainder. 

In 1606, King James I., by an ordinance dated the 10th of 
April, divided all that portion of North America, which is embrac- 
ed within the 34th and 45th degrees of latitude, into two districts. 
The Southern, called the First Colony, he granted to the London 
Company; and the Northern, or Second Colony, he granted to 
the Plymouth Company. The general superintendence of the 
Colonies was vested in a Council, resident in England, named by 
the King, and subject to all orders and decrees under his sign 
manual; and the local jurisdiction was entrusted to a Council, 
also named by the King, and subject to his instructions, which 
was to reside in the colonies. Under these auspices commenced, 
in 1607, the first permanent settlement of Virginia. 

On the third of November, 1620, forty noblemen, knights, and 
gendemen of England, were incorporated by King James, under 
the name and style of " The Council established at Plymouth, in 
the county of Devon, for the planting, ruling and governing New 
England in America." At the head of this corporation was the 
2 



10 INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 

Earl of Warwick. The territory subjected to its jurisdiction, ex- 
tended in breadth from the 40th to the 48tii degree of north lati- 
tude, and in length from sea to sea — comprising all the present 
inhabited British possessions north of the United States, all New 
England and New York, half of New Jersey, nearly the whole of 
Pennsylvania, and the whole of the country west of these states to 
the Pacific ocean. Absolute property in this vast domain was con- 
ferred upon the corporation, and full powers of government were 
conceded, subject to the royal will. This patent is the basis of 
all the subsequent grants in New England. 

Before this charter had passed the seals, the Pilgrims were on 
their way to America. They had obtained permission from the 
London Company to settle within their limits. Their intention 
was to found their settlement upon the banks of the Hudson, but, 
after a perilous voyage, they arrived at Cape Cod, in the 42d de- 
gree of north latitude, beyond the limits of the grant to the Lon- 
don Company. It was too late in the season to retrace their steps, 
and they resolved, therefore, as they were without authority from 
the Plymouth Company, to establish for themselves a form of 
government, which was done by a written instrument subscribed on 
the 11th November, 1620, in the cabin of the Mayflower. 

Such was the beginning of the Colony of New Plymouth. 
Of the persecutions which drove the Puritans from England, and 
led them afterwards to seek an asylum in the New World, and of 
the perils which they encountered, upon the ocean and upon the 
land, ample accounts are given in the sketches which follow. 



GOVERNOHS OF NEW PLYMOUTH. 



I. JOHN CARVER. 

The first effectual settlements of the English in New 
England, were made by those, who, after the Reforma- 
tion, dissented from the Established Episcopal Churchy 
who were persecuted on account of their dissent, and 
sought an asylum from their sufferings. Uniformity was 
insisted on with a rigor that disgusted many conscientious 
ministers and people of the Church of England, and 
caused that separation, which has ever since existed. 
Religious persons, who could not conform to the estab- 
lishment, but taught the necessity of a more complete 
and personal reformation, were at first distinguished by 
the name of Puritans — a name which they never dis- 
owned, though it was given in derision. Among these, 
the most rigid were the Brovmists, so called from Robert 
Brown, "a fiery young clergyman," who in 1580-1586, 
headed a zealous party, and was vehement for a total 
separation. But his zeal, though violent, as is often the 
case with zealots, was not of a temper to resist persecu- 
tion, and in advanced life, he accepted a living offered 
by the Church he had reviled ; while others, who more 
deliberately withdrew, retained their separation, though 
they became more candid and moderate in their princi- 
ples.* Of these people, a congregation was formed 

*NearsN. E. i. 58, 64. 



12 JOHN CARVER. 

about the year 1602, near the confines of the counties of 
York, Nottingham, and Lincohi, in England, wlio chose 
for their ministers, Richard Clifton and John Robinson.* 
The reigning prince at that time was James the First, 
than whom a more contemptible character never sat on 
the British throne. Educated in the principles of Pres- 
byterianism in Scotland, he forgot them all on his ad- 
vancement to the throne of the three kingdoms. Flat- 
tered by the bishops, he gave all ecclesiastical power into 
their hands, and entrusted sycophants with the manage- 
ment of the state, while he indolently resigned himself 
to literary and sensual indulgences ; in the former of 
which he was a pedant, in the latter an epicure. The 
prosecution of the Puritans was conducted with unre- 
lenting severity in the former part of his reign, when 
Bancroft was Archbishop of Canterbury. Abbot, who 
succeeded him, was more favorable to them ; but when 
Laud came into power, they were treated with every 
mark of insult and cruelty. Robinson's little congrega- 
tion did not escape persecution, by quietly separating 
from the establishment, and forming an independent 
church. They were still exposed to the penalties of the 
ecclesiastical law. They were harrassed Mdth every 
species of intolerance ; some were thrown into prison ; 
some were confined to their own houses ; and others 
were obliged to leave their farms, and suspend their 
usual occupations.! Such was their distress and per- 
plexity, that an emigration to some foreign country, 
seemed at length the only means of personal safety. 
Their first views were directed to Holland, where the 

* Prince, i. 4, 20. 1 See the history of Puritan sufferings in Neal, and autho- 
rities there cited, or the graphic account in Bancroft, i. 288 — 290. 



JOHN CARVER. 13 

spirit of commerce had dictated a free toleration of reli- 
ii;ious opinions ; a blessing which neither the wisdom of 
politicians nor the charity of clergymen had admitted 
into any other of the European states. Mr. Ro])inson, 
and as many of his congregation as found it in their 
power, accordingly left England in the years 1607 and 
1608, and settled in Amsterdam; whence, in 1609, they 
removed to Leyden. 

JoHX Carver, one of the most grave and honored of 
the Pilgrims, and first governor of the colony of New 
Plymouth, is supposed to have been a native of Lincoln- 
shire, England, where families of the name were known 
to exist ; and he is represented to have been one of the 
deacons of the English Congregational Church at Ley- 
den. Of his family, or personal history, prior to his 
connection with the Pilgrims, little is known. The record 
of the time and place of his birth, is nowhere found. 
The earhest account of him know n to exist, refers to his 
appointment as one of the agents of the Leyden Church. 
At that time, he was in high esteem as a grave, pious, 
prudent and judicious man. The correspondence, be- 
tween Sir Edwin Sandys, Treasurer of the Virginia 
Company, and the Rev. John Robinson, pastor of the 
Pilgrim Church, and a letter from the latter to Mr. 
Carver, preserved in Governor Bradford's History, shew 
that he was a person of consideration and character as a 
philanthropist and christian. " I hope," said Mr. Robin- 
son, in his parting address to Carver, "that you, having 
always been able so plentifully to administer comfort unto 
others in their trials, are so well furnished for yourself, 
as that far greater difficulties than you have yet under- 
gone (though I conceive them to be great enough) cannot 



14 JOHN CARVER. 

oppress yoii^ though they press you, as the Apostle 
speaketh. '^The spirit of a man (sustained by the Spirit 
of God) will sustain his infirmity.' I doubt not so will 
yours ; and the better much^ when you shall enjoy the 
presence and help of so many goodly and wise brethren^ 
for the bearing of part of your burden ; who also will 
not admit into their hearts the least thoughts of suspicion 
of any the least negligence, at least presumption to have 
been in you, whatever they think in others." Carver 
was one of the oldest of the Pilgrims, and the circum- 
stance that he was selected by Robinson as the individual 
to whom to address his parting letter, shows that he was 
a leading and trusted man.* 

After residing several years in Leyden, various causes 
influenced the congregation to entertain serious thoughts 
of a removal to America. These causes were the un- 
healthiness of the low country where they hved; the 
hard labor to which they were subjected; the dissipated 
manners of the Hollanders ; especially the lax observance 
of the Lord's Day;f the apprehension of a war at the 
conclusion of the truce between Spain and Holland, which 
was then near its close ; the fear, lest their young men 
would enter into the military and naval service; the ten- 
dency of their little community to become absorbed 
and lost in a foreign nation ; their desire to live under 
the protection of England, and to retain the language 
and the name of Englishmen; their inability to give 

* Young's Chronicles, 90. 

t Sir Dudley Carleton, writing from the Hague, July 22, 1619, says, " It falls 
out in these towns of Holland, that Sunday, which is elsewhere the day of rest, 
proves the day of labour, for they never knew yet how to observe the Sabbath." 
This violation of the Sabbath attracted the attention of the Synod of Dort, 
which assembled in 1618. 



JOHN CARVER. 15 

their children such an education as they had themselves 
received ; the natural and pious desire of perpetuating a 
churchj which they believed to be constituted after the 
simple and pure model of the primitive church of Christ; 
and a commendable zeal to propagate the gospel in the 
regions of the New World. 

In 1617^ having concluded to go to Virginia, and settle 
in a distinct body under the general government of that 
colony, they sent Mr. Robert Cushman, and Mr. John 
Carver, to England, to treat with the Virginia Com- 
pany, and ascertain whether the King w^ould grant them 
liberty of conscience in that distant country. Though 
these agents found the Virginia Company very desirous 
of the projected settlement in their American territory, 
and willing to grant them a patent, with as ample priv- 
ileges as they had power to convey; yet they could 
prevail with the King no farther, than to engage that he 
would connive at them, and not molest them, provided 
tliey would conduct peaceably. Toleration in religious 
liberty by public authority, under his seal,' was denied. * 

The business of the agency was for a long time de- 
layed, by discontents and factions in the company of 
Virginia, by the removal of their former treasurer. Sir 
Thomas Smith, and the enmity between him and Sir 
Edwin Sandys, his successor-! At length a patent was 

* Holmes, Am. Ann. i. 158. 

t Sir Edwin Sandys was the son of Archbishop Sandys, and the pupil of 
Hooker. Hume says that in Parliament he was "a member of great authority ;" 
and, for taking the popular side in 1G14, was committed to the Tower. He suc- 
ceeded Sir Thomas Smith, as Treasurer of the Virginia Company, on the 28th 
of April, 1619. His election was brought about by the Earl of Warwick's hos. 
tility to Smith. The historians of Virginia say that he was a person of excel- 
lent endowments, great vigor and resolution. King James disliked him, on 
account of his liberal principles, and when tlie year came round, he objected to 



16 JOHN CARVER. 

obtained under the company's seal ; but^ by the advice of 
some friends^ it was taken in the name of John Wincob, 
a rehgious gentleman belonging to the family of the 
Countess of Lincoln^ who intended to accompany the ad- 
venturers to America.* This patent, and the proposals 
of Thomas Weston, of London, merchant, and other per- 
sons who appeared friendly to the design, were carried 
to Leyden, in the autumn of 1619, for the consideration 
of the people. At the same time, there was a plan 
forming for a new council in the west of England, to 
superintend the plantation and fishery of North Virginia, 
the name of which was changed to JYew England. To 
this expected establishment Weston and the other mer- 
chants began to incline, chiefly from the hope of present 
gain by the fishery. This caused some embarrassment, 
and a variety of opinions ; but, considering that the coun- 
cil for New England was not yet incorporated, and that, 
if they should wait for that event, they might be detained 
another year, before which time the war between the 
Dutch and the Spaniards might be renewed,! the ma- 
jority concluded to take the patent, which had been ob- 
tained from the company of South Virginia, and emigrate 
to some place near Hudson's River, which was within 
their territory. 

his re-appointment as Treasurer. " Choose the devil, if you will, (said he) but 
not Sir Edwin Sandys." 

* Wincob never came to America ; and all that is known of him is that he 
was never of the least service to those who had obtained the patent at such toil 
and cost. Bancroft, i. 305. The precise date of the patent is nowhere men- 
tioned. Young, in his Chronicles, 75, gives the probable reason why the patent 
was taken in the name of Wincob, that the Leyden people being out of the 
realm, the patent would not be granted in any of their names. 

1 The truce, which, after a war of above thirty years, was concluded between 
Spain and the United Netherlands in 1G0!,>, was to expire by its own limitation 
in 1621. 



JOHN CARVER. 17 

The next spring, ( 1 620, ) Weston himself went over to 
Leyden, where the people entered into articles of agree- 
ment with him, both for shipping and money, to assist in 
their transportation. Carver and Cushman were again 
sent to London, to receive the money and provide for the 
voyage. When they came there, they found the other 
merchants so very penurious and severe, that they were 
obliged to consent to some alteration in the articles, which, 
though not relished by their constituents, yet were so 
strongly insisted on, that without them the whole adven- 
ture must have been frustrated. 

The articles, with their amendments, were these :* 

" 1 . The adventurers and planters do agree that every 
person that goeth, being sixteen years old and upward^ 
be rated at ten pounds, and that ten pounds be accounted 
a single share."' 

" 2. That he that goeth in person, and furnisheth him- 
self out with ten pounds, either in money or other pro- 
visions, be accounted as having twenty pounds in stock, 
and in the division shall receive a double share." 

^^ 3. The persons transported and the adventurers shall 
continue their joint stock and partnership the space of 
seven years, except some unexpected impediments do 
cause the whole company to agree otherwise, during 
which time all profits and benefits that are gotten by 
trade, traffic, trucking, working, fishing, or any other 
means, of any other person or persons, shall remain still 
in the common stock, until the division." 

" 4. That at their coming there they shall choose 
out such a number of fit persons as may furnish their 
ships and boats for fishing upon the sea, employing the 

* Hubbard's N. E. 48.— Hazard's Hist. Coll. y. 87. 

3 



18 JOHN CARVER. 

rest in their several faculties upon the land^ as building 
houseSj tilling and planting the land^ and making such 
commodities as shall be most useful for the colony." 

'^ 5. That at the end of the seven years the capital and 
profits, viz. J the houses, lands, goods, and chattels, be 
equally divided among the adventurers ; if any debt or 
detriment concerning this adventure" * 

" 6. Whosoever cometh to the colony hereafter, or 
putteth any thing into the stock, shall at the end of the 
seven years be allowed proportionally to the time of his 
so doing." 

" 7. He that shall carry his wife, or children, or 
servants, shall be allowed for every person now aged six- 
teen years and upwards, a single share in the division ; or, 
if he provide them necessaries, a double share; or, if 
they be between ten years old and sixteen, then two of 
them to be reckoned for a person, both in transportation 
and division." 

" 8. That such children as now go, and are under ten 
years of age, have no other share in the division than 
fifty acres of unmanured land." 

'^9. That such persons as die before the seven years 
be expired, their executors to have their parts or shares 
at the division, proportionally to the time of their life in 
the colony." 

" 10. That all such persons as are of the colony are to 
have meat, drink, and apparel out of the common stock 
and goods of the said colony." 

The difference between the articles as first agreed 
upon, and as finally concluded, was in these two points : 

1. In the former, it was provided that ^^the houses 

* Here something seems to be wanting, which cannot now be supplied. 



JOHN CARVER. 19 

and lands improved, especially gardens and home-fields, 
should remain undivided wholly to the planters at the 
end of the seven years/' but in the latter, the houses and 
lands were to be equally divided. 2. In the former, the 
planters were " allowed two days in the week for their 
own private employment, for the comfort of themselves 
and families, especially such as had them to take care 
for." In the latter, this article was wholly omitted. 

On these hard conditions, and with this small encour- 
agement, the pilgrims of Ley den, supported by a pious 
confidence in the Supreme Disposer, and animated by a 
fortitude resulting from the steady principles of the reli- 
gion which they professed, determined to cast themselves 
on the care of Divine Providence, and embark for Amer- 
ica. With the proceeds of their own estates, now put 
into a common stock, and the assistance of the merchants, 
to whom they had mortgaged their labour and trade for 
seven years, two vessels were provided. One, in Hol- 
land, of sixty tons, called the Speedwell, commanded by 
a Captain Reynolds, which was intended to transport 
some of them to America, and there to remain in their 
service one year, for fishing and other uses. Another, 
of one hundred and eighty tons, called the Mayflower, 
was chartered by Mr. Cushman, in London, and sent 
round to Southampton, in Hampshire, whither Mr. Car- 
ver went to superintend her equipment. This vessel 
was commanded by a Captain Jones, and, after discharg- 
ing her passengers in America, w as to return to Eng- 
land. Seven hundred pounds sterhng were expended 
in provisions and stores, .and other necessary prepara- 
tions, and the value of the trading venture which they car- 



20 JOHN CARVER. 

ried was seventeen hundred pounds. Mr. Weston came 
from London to Southampton, to see them despatched.* 

The Speedwell, with the passengers, having arrived 
there from Leyden, and the necessary officers being 
chosen to govern the people and take care of the provi- 
sions and stores on the voyage, both ships, carrying one 
hundred and twenty passengers, sailed from Southamp- 
ton on the fifth day of August, 1620.t 

They had not sailed many leagues down the channel 
before Reynolds, master of the Speedwell, complained 
that his vessel was too leaky to proceed. J Both ships 
then put in at Dartmouth, where the Speedwell was 
searched and repaired; and the workmen judged her 
sufficient for the voyage. On the twenty first of August, 

* Weston continued to be an active promoter of the New Plymoutli settlement 
until 1622. He then procured a patent, and commenced a plantation of his 
own at a place called Wessagussett, (Weymouth,) in Massachusetts. Winslow 
says, Weston "formerly deserved well of us;" and Bradford, in 1623, says he 
" has become our enemy on all occasions." Weston was at New Plymouth, in 
1623, where he was liberally assisted ; visited that place again in 1624, and from 
thence went to Virginia. He died at Bristol, England, during the civil wars. 
Prince, 135, 144. 

t At the quay at Delfthaven, a multitude of people assembled, to witness 
the errjbarkation of the first company destined to people the New World, and 
to unite their sympathies and prayers for the safety and prosperity of the little 
band. At the moment of their going on board, Mr. Robinson fell on his knees, 
and with eyes overflowing with tears, in a most fervent and solemn prayer, 
committed them to their Divine Protector. 

" The winds and waves are roaring : 
The Pilgrims meet for prayer ; 
And here, their God adoring, 
They kneel in open air." 

Mr. Robinson never came to New England. He remained at Leyden until 
his death, which took place on the first of March, 1625, in the 56th year of his 
age. His widow and children afterwards came to New Plymouth, where his 
descendants are still found. At his death, the church over which he presided, 
and which his talents contributed to illustrate, was dissolved, some of its mem- 
bers remaining in Holland, others removing to America. Thacher, 15. — Bayr 
lies, i. 24. 

t Prince, 71.— Morton, 10. 



JOHN CARVER. 21 

ihey put to sea again, and, having sailed in company 
about one hundred leagues, Reynolds renewed his com- 
plaints against his ship, declaring that, by constant pump- 
ing, he could scarcely keep her above water, on which 
both ships again put back to Plymouth. Another search 
was made, and, no defect appearing, the leaky condi- 
tion of the ship was judged to be owing to her general 
weakness, and she was pronounced unfit for the voyage- 
About twenty of the passengers went on shore. The 
others, with their provisions, were received on board the 
Mayflower, and on the sixth of Septeijiber, the company, 
consisting of one hundred and one passengers, (besides 
the ship's officers and crew,) took their last leave of 
England, having consumed a whole month in these vexa- 
tious and expensive delays. 

The true causes of these mis-adventures did not then 
appear. One was, that the Speedwell w^as overmasted, 
which error being remedied, the vessel afterward made 
several safe and profitable voyages. But the principal 
cause was the deceit of the master and crew, who, having 
engaged to remain a whole year in the service of the 
colony, and apprehending hard fare in that employment, 
were glad of any excuse to rid themselves of the service. 

The Mayflower, Jones, proceeded w^ith fair winds in 
the former part of her voyage, and then met with bad 
weather and contrary winds, so that for several days no 
sail could be carried. The ship labored so much in the 
sea that one of tha main beams sprung, which renewed 
the fears and distresses of the passengers. They had 
then made about one half of their voyage, and the chief 
of the company began a consultation with the comman- 
der of the ship whether it were better to proceed or re- 



22 JOHN CARVER. 

turn. But one of the passengers having on board a 
large iron screWj it was appHed to the beam, and forced 
it into its place. This successful effort determined them 
to proceed. 

No other particulars of this long and tedious voyage 
are preserved, but that the ship being leaky, and the 
people closely stowed, were continually wet; that one 
young man, a servant of Samuel Fuller, died at sea; and 
that one child was born, and called Oceamis — a son of 
Stephen Hopkins. 

On the ninth of November, at break of day, they 
made land, which proved to be the white sandy cliffs of 
Cape Cod.* This landfall being farther northward than 
they intended, they immediately put about the ship to 
the southward, and before noon found themselves among 
shoals and breakers. f Had they pursued their southern 
course, as the weather was fine, they might in a few 
hours more, have found an opening, and passed safely to 
the westward, agreeably to their original design, \^hich 
was to go to Hudson's River. But, having been so long 
at sea, the sight of any land was welcome to women and 

* Cape Cod was discovered, 15th May, 1602, by Bartholomew Gosnold, an 
English navigator, who gave it the name, on account of the abundance of cod, 
which he caught in the neighborhood. It was afterwards called Cape James, 
by Smith. John Brereton, who was one of the companions of Gosnold, and 
wrote a journal of the voyage, says, " they first made land May 14, in lat. 40 
degrees" — and " about three of the clock the same day in the afternoon, we 
weighed, and standing southerly off into the sea the rest of that day and the 
night following, with a fresh gale of wind, in the morning we found ourselves 
embayed with a mighty headland. At length we perceived this headland to be 
a parcel of the main. In five or six hours we pestered our ship so with codfish, 
that we threw numbers of them over again. The places where we took these 
cods, (and might in a few days laden our ship,) were but in seven fathoms wa- 
ter."— Brereton's Account of Gosnold's Voyage, III Mass. Hist. Coll. viii. 86. 

t These shoals lie to the southeast extremity of the Cape, which was called 
by Gosnold Point Care, by the Dutch and French Malebarrc, and is now known 
by the name of Sandy Point. 



JOHN CARVER. 23 

children; the new danger was formidable ; and the ea- 
gerness of the passengers to be set on shore was irresis- 
tible. These circumstanceSj coinciding with the secret 
views of the master, who had been promised a reward by 
some agents of the Dutch West India Company if he 
would not carry them to Hudson's River, induced him 
to put about to the northward.* Before night the ship 
was clear of the danger. The next day they doubled 
the northern extremity of the-cape, (Race Point,) and, a 
storm coming on, the ship w^as brought to anchor tin 
Cape Cod harbour, where she lay perfectly secure from 
winds and shoals. 

This harbour, being in the forty second degree of 
north latitude, was without the territory of the South 
Virginia Company. The charter which these emigrants 
had brought with them of course became useless. Some 
symptoms of faction, at the same time, appearing among 

* Of this plot between Jones and the Dntcli, Secret<ary Morton says he had 
certain intelligence. Memorial, 12. Nearly all the historians have adopted 
without question the account of this affair given by Morton. Robertson and 
Bozman speak of it as a rumor; but the first doubt expressed of the truth of 
this account is in Moulton's unfinished History of New York. Moulton is fol- 
lowed by others, who consider the silence of Bradford and Winslow as to this 
plot, conclusive against the representation given by Morton. Young's Chroni- 
cles, n)2. But there are also circumstances which go to sustain the generally 
received account. It is known tliat the Pilgrims intended to settle near the 
Hudson. Their patent did not authorize them to settle beyond the 40th parallel 
of latitude. They knew that Nortli Virginia, or New England, had been de- 
scribed by Smith and others, as "a cold, barren, mountainous, rocky dcsart," 
" uninhabitable by Englishmen." They could not have been indifferent as to the 
coast upon which they were to land ; and when they found themselves at Cape 
Cod, they desirf»d to return towards the South, but were prevented by the im- 
portunities of a portion of their number. It is well known, that the Dutch 
West India Company objected to English settlements on the Hudson, and 
would very naturally seek to prevent them. Until furtlier light therefore is 
thrown upon the subject, the account given b}' Morton sliould not be hastily 
rejected, sustained as it is by his own declaration that he had " certain intelli- 
gence" of the fact. 



24 JOHN CARVER. 

the servants^ who had been received on board in Eng- 
land; purporting that when on shore they should be 
under no government, and that one man would be as 
good as another, it was thought proper, by the most judi- 
cious persons, to have recourse to natural law ; and that, 
before disembarcation, they should enter into an associa- 
tion, and combine themselves in a political body, to be' 
governed by the majority.* To this they consented: 

' In Mourt's Relation, (I Mass. Hist. Coll. viii. 205,) is the following and 
easiest account of the origin of this Compact : " This day, before we are come 
to harbor, observing some not well affected to unity and concord, but gave some 
appearance of faction, it was thought good there should be an association and 
agreement, that we should combine together in one body, and to submit to 

SUCH GOVERNMENT AND GOVERNORS, AS WE SHOULD BY COMMON CONSENT AGKER 

TO MAKE AND CHOOSE." A late Writer questions the high motives usually at- 
tributed to the pilgrims in adopting this compact: He supposes that it was 
adopted to secure for the time the power of the orderly over the evil disposed^ 
without any foresight of the vast political importance of the principles which 
it established. Hubbard's edit. Belknap's Biog. ii. 306. However this may 
have been, it is still beyond dispute, that the brief and comprehensive instru- 
ment subscribed in the cabin of the Mayflower, established a principle, which 
is the foundation of all the democratic institutions in America — the principle 
that the will of the majority shall govern. The proofs that these men were' 
sincere in their professions, and that civil as well as religious liberty, was an- 
object dear to their hearts, would seem to be conclusive, if we admit the testi-- 
mony of their own lives, and the concurrent statements of Mourt, Winslow,. 
Bradford, and Morton. So evidently thought King James, when, in 1604, the 
Puritans desired permission to assemble and to be allowed freedom of discus- 
sion. "You are aiming at a Scot's presbytery, (said he,) which agrees with' 
monarchy as well as God with the devil ! — I will have none of that liberty as to 
ceremonies.'' So thought the Commons of England, who favored the Puritans' 
as their natural allies in the struggle against despotism — when the lines were 
distinctly drawn — the established Church and the Monarch on one side-, and the 
Puritan clergy and the People on the other. Neal, ii. 52. Bancroft, i. 298. 
The declaration of Robinson and Brewster, in their letter to Sir Edwin Sandys^ 
of Dec. 15, 1617, is in exact accordance with the spirit of the compact on board 
the Mayflower : " We are knit together as a Body, in a most strict and sacred! 
Bond and Covenant of the Lord ; of the violation whereof we make great con- 
science, and by virtue whereof, we hold ourselves straitly tied to all care of' 
each other's good, and of the whole." Bradford, in Prince, 52. If further 
proof were wanting of the design of the pilgrims to establish independence, it 
may be found in that memorable Declaration, drawn up by the Associates at 



JOHN CARVER. 25 

and, after solemn prayer and thanksgiving, a written in- 
strument being drawn, they subscribed it with their own 
hands, and by a unanimous vote chose John Carver 
their governor for one year. 

The instrument was conceived in these terms : 
" In the name of God, Amen. We, whose Names 
are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sove- 
reign Lord, King James, by the Grace of God, of Great 
Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the 
Faith, &LC., Having undertaken, for the Glory' of God 
and advancement of the Christian Faith, and Honour of 
our King and country, a Voyage, to Plant the first Colony 
in the Northern Parts of Virginia; Do, by these Presents, 
solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God, and of 
one another, Covenant and Combine ourselves together 
unto a Civil body Politick, for our better Ordering and 
Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid; 
and, by Virtue hereof, to enact, constitute, and frame 
such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitu- 
tions, and Offices, from Time to Time, as shall be thought 
most meet and convenient for the General Good of the 
Colony; unto which we Promise all due Submission and 
Obedience. In witness whereof, we have hereunder 
subscribed our Names, at Cape Cod, the eleventh of No- 
vember, in the year of the Reign of onr Sovereign Lord, 
King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the Eigh- 
teenth, and of Scotland the Fifty-Fourth, Anno Domini, 
1620." 

[The names of the subscribers are placed in the fol- 

Ncw Plymouth, and entered upon their records, on the 15th November, 1636, 
in which the authority of English laws, "at present, or to come," is expressly 
renounced, and Parliament denied the right of legislating for the Colony. See 
Hazard, i. 408. 



26 



JOHN CAKVER. 



lowing order^ by Secretary Morton ; but Prince^ with his 
usual aceuracyj compared the list with Governor Brad- 
ford's History, and added their titles, and the number of 
each one's family which came over at this time ; observ- 
ing that some left the whole, and others a part, of their 
families, either in England or Holland, who came over 
afterward. He was also so curious as to note those wdio 
brought their wives, marked with a (f), and those who 
died before the end of the next March, distinguished by 
an asterism (*)•] 



1. 


Mr. John Carvcr,t 


8 


23. 


Francis Eaton,! 


3 


2. 


Mr. William Bradford,! 


2 


24. 


*James Chilton,! 


3 


3. 


Mr. Edward Winslow,t 


5 


25. 


*John Crackston, [3] 


2 


4. 


Mr. William Brevvster,t 


6 


26. 


John Billington,! 




5. 


Mr. Isaac Allerton,t 


6 


27. 


*Moses Fletcher, 




6. 


Capt. Miles Standisli,t 


2 


28. 


*Jolin Goodman, 




7. 


John Alden, 


1 


29. 


* Degory Priest, [4] 




8. 


Mr. Samuel Fuller, 


2 


30. 


*Thomas Williams, 




9. 


*Mr. Christopher Martin, t 


4 


31. 


Gilbert Winslow, 




10. 


*Mr. William Mullins,t 


5 


32. 


*Edmund Margeson, 




11. 


■ *Mr. William White,! [1] 


5 


33. 


Peter Brown, 




12. 


Mr. Richard Warren, 


1 


34. 


^Richard Britterige, 




13. 


John Rowland, [2] 




35. 


George Soule, [5] 




14. 


Mr. Stephen Hopkins, t 


8 


36. 


*Richard Clarke, 




15. 


*Edward Tilly,t 


4 


37. 


Richard Gardiner, 




16 


*John Tilly, t 


3- 


38. 


*John Allerton, 




17. 


Francis Cook, 


2 


39. 


^Thomas English, 




18 


*Thomas Rogers, 


2 


40. 


Edward Dotey, [6] 




19 


*Thomas Tinker,! 


3 


41. 


Edward Leister, [6] 




20 


*John Ridgdale,t 


2 








21 


*Edward Fuller,! 


3 




Total persons. 


. . 101 


22 


*John Turner, 


3 










Of whom w 


sre sul 


scribers to the Compact, 


... 41 




1] Besides a son, born in Cape 


Cod 


Harbor, named Peregrine. See 


page 31. 




2] Of Governor Carver's fam 


iiy- 










3] Morton writes his name Craxtoi 


1. 








4] In Morton, Digery Priest. 












'5] Of Governor Winslow's family 










;6] Of Mr. Hopkins' family. 











Government being thus regularly established, on a 
truly republican principle, sixteen armed men were sent 



JOHN CARVER. 27 

on shore, as soon as the weather would permit, to fetch 
wood and make discoveries.* They returned at night 
with a boat load of juniper wood, and made report "that 
they found the land to be a narrow neck, having the har- 
bour on one side, and the ocean on the other; that the 
ground consisted of sandhills, like the Downs in Holland; 
that in some places the soil was black earth ^a spit's 
depth;' that the trees were oak, pine, sassafras, juniper, 
birch, holly, ash, and walnut ; that the forest was open 
and without underwood ; that no inhabitants, houses, nor 
fresh water were to be seen." This account was as 
much as could be collected in one Saturday's afternoon. 
The next day they rested. 

While they lay in this harbour, during the space of 
five weeks, they saw great flocks of seafowl and whales 
every day playing about them. The master and mate, 
who had been acquainted with the fisheries in the north- 
ern seas of Europe, supposed that they might in that 
time have made oil to the value of three or four thousand 
pounds. It was too late in the season for cod ; and, 
indeed, they caught none but small fish near the shore, 
and shellfish. The margin of the sea was so shallow, 
that they were obliged to wade ashore, and the weather 
being severe, many of them took colds and coughs, which 
in the course of the winter proved mortal. 

On Monday, the thirteenth of November, the women 
went ashore under a guard to wash their clothes, and the 
men were impatient for a farther discovery. The shal- 
lop, which had been cut down and stowed between 
decks, needed repairing, in which seventeen days were 
employed. While this was doing, they proposed that 

' Monrl.'s Rolation, I Mass. Hist. Coll. viii. 206. 



28 JOHN CARVER. 

excursions might be made on foot. Much caution was 
necessary in an enterprise of this kind, in a new and 
savage country. After consuUation and preparation, six- 
teen men were equipped with musket and ammunition, 
sword and corslet, under the command of Captain Miles 
Standish,* who had William Bradford, Stephen Hopkins,! 
and Edward Tilly| for his council of war. After many 
instructions given, they were rather permitted than or- 
dered to go, and the time of their absence was limited to 
two days. 

When they had travelled one mile by the shore, they 
discovered five or six of the natives, who, on sight of 
them, fled. They attempted to pursue, and, lighting on 
their tracks, followed them till night; but the thickets 
through which they had to pass, the weight of their ar- 
mour, and their debility after a long voyage, made them 
an unequal match, in point of travelling, to these nimble 
sons of nature. They rested at length by a spring, which 
afforded them the first refreshing draught of American 
water. § 

The discoveries made in this march were few, but 
novel and amusing. In one place they found a deer trap, 

* This intrepid soldier was the hero of New England, as John Smith was of 
Virginia. An excellent account of him is found in Belknap's Biography, ii. 
310. 

t Stephen Hopkins was one of the assistants, or magistrates, of the colony, 
from 1633 to 1636. Stephen Hopkins, governor of Rhode Island nine years 
from 1755 to 1767, and one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, 
was a descendant of Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower. Farmer's Geneal. 

t Edward Tilly died early in 1621. Farmer's Geneal. The exploring party 
here referred to sat out on Wednesday, November 15. Prince, 74. 

§ Mourt represents the spring to have been found on the second day, and 
adds, " we brought neither beer nor water with us, and our only victuals were 
biscuit and Holland cheese, and a little bottle of aqua vitse, so as we were sore 
athirst." I Mass. Hist. Coll. viii. 208. 



JOHIV CARVER. 29 

made by the bendini^ of a young tree to the earth, with 
a noose under ground covered with acorns. Mr. Brad- 
ford's foot was caught in the trap, from which his com- 
panions disengaged him, and they were all entertained 
with the ingenuity of the device. In another place they 
came to an Indian burying-ground, and in one of the 
graves they found a mortar, an earthen pot, a bow and 
arrows, and other implements, all which they very care- 
fully replaced, because they would not be guilty of vio- 
lating the repositories of the dead. But when they 
found a cellar, carefully lined with bark and covered with 
a heap of sand, in which about four bushels of seed-corn 
in ears* were well secured, after reasoning on the mo- 
rality of the action, they took as much of the corn as 
they could carry, intending, when they should find the 
owners, to pay them to their satisfaction. On the third 
day they arrived, weary and welcome, where the ship lay, 
and delivered their corn into the common store. The 
company resolved to keep it for seed, and to pay the 
natives the full value when they should have opportunity. 
When the shallop was repaired and rigged, twenty- 
four of the company ventured on a second excursion to 
the same place, to make a farther discovery, having 
Captain Jones for their commander, with ten of his sea- 
men and the ship's long boat.f The wind being high 
and the sea rough, the shallop came to anchor under the 
land, while part of the company waded on shore from 
the long boat, and travelled, as they supposed, six or 
seven miles, having directed the shallop to follow them 

* " Of divers colors, wliich seemed to them a very goodly sight, having seen 
none before." Morton, 16. 

t This party started on the 27th November. Prince, 75. 



30 JOHN CARVER. 

the next morning. The weather was very cold, with 
snow, and the people, having no shelter, took such colds 
as afterwards proved fatal to many. 

Before noon the next day, the shallop took them on 
board, and sailed to the place which they denominated 
Cold Harbour.^ Finding it not navigable for ships, and, 
consequently, not proper for their residence, after shoot- 
ing some geese and ducks, which they devoured with 
" soldiers' stomachs," they went in search of seed corn. 
The ground was frozen and covered with snow, but the 
cellars were known by heaps of sand, and the frozen 
earth was penetrated with their swords, till they gathered 
corn to the amount of ten bushels. This fortunate sup- 
ply, with a quantity of beans preserved in the same 
manner, they took on the same condition as before ; and 
it is remarked by Governor Bradford that in six months 
after they paid the owners to their entire satisfaction.! 
The acquisition of this corn they always regarded as a 
particular favour of Divine Providence, without which 
the colony could not have subsisted. 

Captain Jones, in the shallop, went back to the ship, 
with the corn and fifteen of the weakest of the people, 
intending to send mattocks and spades the next day. 
The eighteen wiio remained, marched, as they supposed, 
five or six miles into the woods, and, returning another 

* Prince conjectures this place to have heen Barnstable Harbor. (Page 74.) 
But neither the time nor the distance can agree with this conjecture. Barnsta- 
ble is more than fifty miles from Cape Cod Harbor by land, a distance which 
they could not have travelled and back again in three short days of November. 
Belknap supposes Cold Harbor to be the mouth of Paomet Creek, between 
Truro and Welfleet, and the description given in Mourt's Relation corresponds 
with this idea. Paomet is a tide-harbor for boats, distant between three and 
four leagues from the harbor of Cape Cod. I Mass. Hist. Coll. iii. 196. 

t Prince, 7'). 



JOHN ( AKVEK. 31 

way, discovered a mound of earthy in a\ liicli ihey hoped 
to find more corn. On opening it^ nothing appeared but 
the skull of a man preserved in red earth, the skeleton 
of an infant, and such arms, utensils, and ornaments as 
are usually deposited in Indian graves.* Not far distant 
were two deserted wigwams, with their furniture and 
some venison, so ill preserved that even "soldiers' 
stomachs" could not relish it. On the arrival of the 
shallop, they returned to the ship the first of December. 
During their absence, the Avife of William White had 
been delivered of a son, who, from the circumstances of 
his birth, was named Peregrine. f 

At this time the}' held a consultation respecting their 
future settlement. J Some thought that Cold Harbour 
might be a proper place, because, though not deep 
enough for ships, it might be convenient for boats, and 
because a valuable fishery for w^hales and cods might be 
carried on there. The land was partly cleared of wood, 
and good for corn, as appeared from the seed. It was 
also likely to be healthy and defensible. But the prin- 

* Mourt, I Mass. Hist. Coll. viii. 215. 

t The following account of him is extracted from the Boston News Letter 
of July 31, 1704, being the 15th number of the first newspaper printed in New 
England ; " Marshfield, July 22, Captain Peregrine White, of this town, aged 
eighty-three years and eight months, died Jiere the 20th instant. He was vigor- 
ous, and of a comely aspect to the last; was the son of William White and 
Susanna his wife, born on board the ]Mayflower, Captain Jones, commander, in 
Cape Cod Harbor, November, 1G20, the first Englishman born in New England." 
William White, the father, died at New Plymouth, in the spring of 1G21. His 
widow, Susannah, married Edward Winslow, the third governor of the colony. 
This marriage was solemnized the 12ih May, 1621. It is mentioned by Baylies, 
as a singular coincidence that Mrs. White should have been the first mother and 
first bride in New England, and mother of the first native governor of the 
colony, who also attained the high and solitary honor of being commander-in- 
chief of the forces of the confederate Colonies, in a war involving their very 
existence. Baylies, ii. 18. 

X Morton, 17. 



32 JOHN CARVER. 

cipal reasons were, that the winter was so far advanced 
as to prevent coasting and discovery, without danger of 
losing men and boats; that the winds were variable, and 
the storms sudden and violent ; that, by cold and wet 
lodging, the people were much affected with coughs, 
which, if they should not soon obtain shelter, would 
prove mortal ; that provisions were daily consuming, and 
the ship must reserve sufficient for the homeward voy- 
age, whatever became of the colony. 

Others thought it best to go to a place called Aga- 
wam,* twenty leagues northward, where they had heard 
of an excellent harbour, good fishing, and a better soil for 
planting. To this it was answered, that there might 
possibly be as good a place nearer to them. Robert 
Coppin, their pilot, who had been here before, assured 
them that he knew of a good harbour and a navigable 
river, not more than eight leagues across the bay to the 
westward. Upon the whole, they resolved to send the 
shallop round the shore of the bay on discovery, but not 
beyond the harbour of which Coppin had informed 
them. 

On Wednesday, the sixth of December, Governor 
Carver, with nine of the principal men, well armed, and 
the same number of seamen, of which Coppin was one, 
went out in the shallop. The weather was so cold that 
the spray of the sea froze on their coats, until they were 
cased with ice, " like coats of iron." They sailed by the 
eastern shore of the bay, as they judged, six or seven 
leagues, without finding any river or creek. At length 
they saw " a tongue of land,t being flat off from the 

* The Indian name of Ipswich, Mass. t This " tongue of land," is Billings- 
gate Point, the western shore of Welfleet Harbor. 



JOHN CARVER. ' 33 

shore, with a sandy point ; they bore up to gain the point, 
and found there a lair income, or road of a bay, being a 
league over at the narrowest, and two or three in length ; 
but they made right over to the land before them." As 
I hey came near the shore, they saw ten or twelve Indians 
cutting up a grampus, who, on sight of them, ran away, 
carrying pieces of the fish which they had caught. They 
landed at the distance of a league or more from the 
grampus with great difficulty, on account of the Hat 
sands. Here they built a barricade, and, placing senti- 
nels, lay down to rest. 

The next morning, Thursday, (December 7,) they 
divided themselves into two parties, eight in the shallop, 
and the rest on shore, to make farther discovery of this 
place, which they found to be "b. bay, without either 
river or creek coming into it." They gave it the name 
of Grampus Bay, because they saw many fish of that 
species. They tracked the Indians on the sand, and 
found a path into the woods, which they followed a 
great way, till they came to old cornfields, and a spacious 
burying-ground enclosed with pales. They ranged the 
woods till the close of the day, and then came down to the 
shore to meet the shallop, which they had not seen since 
the morning. At high water, she put into a creek; and, 
six men being left on board, two came on shore and lodged 
with their companions, under cover of a barricade and 
a guard. 

At dawn of day, on Friday, (December 8,) while at 
their devotions, they were surprised with the war cry of 
the savages, and a flight of arrows. Those of the En- 
glish who had retained their arms, immediately stood on 
the defensive; two muskets were discharged, and the 



34 JOHX CARVER. 

Other men who were armed were ordered not to shoot un- 
til they could take sure aim, there being but four who had 
retained their muskets. The Indians, seeing the others 
run to the shallop, attacked them again, but being secured 
by armor and armed with curtel-axes, they sustained 
themselves until they obtained their muskets from the 
boat — when a general discharge being made, the Indians 
were intimidated, and all fled but one stout warrior, who 
continued to discharge his arrows from behind a tree ; 
but a bullet having struck the tree and scattered the bark 
and splinters about his ears, he took to his heels, and they 
all fled. The English pursued them a short distance 
with shouts, to show that they were not intimidated, and 
then returned to their shallop. Thus terminated the first 
encounter between the English and aboriginals, without 
bloodshed on either side, and the place was named First 
Encounter. 

This unwelcome reception, and the shoal water of the 
place,* determined the company to seek farther. They 
sailed along the shore as near as the extensive shoals 
would permit, but saw no harbour. The weather began 
to look threatening, and Coppin assured them that they 
might reach the harbour of which he had some knowledge 
before night. The wind being southerly, they put them- 
selves before it.f After some hours, it began to rain; 
the storm increasing, their rudder broke, their mast 

* Morton says, " This is thought to be a place called JYamskeket." (Page 
19.) A creek, which now bears the name of SIcakit, lies between Easlham and 
Harwich, distant about three or four miles westward from Nauset, the seat of a 
tribe of Indians, who (as they afterward learned) made this attack. Dr. Free- 
man, in his notes on Mourt, I Mass. Hist. Coll. viii. 219, supposes this to be 
Great Meadow Creek, in Truro, Mass. 

t The distance directly across the bay from Skakit, is about 12 leagues; in 
Prince, (p. 77,) it is said they sailed 15 leagues "along the coast." 



JOHN CARVER. 35 

sprung, aiul tlieir sails IV-ll overboard. In tliis piteous 
plight, steering with two oars, the wind and the flood 
tide carried them into a cove fidl of breakers, and it being 
dark, they were in danger of being driven on shore. 
The pilot confessed that he knew not the place ; but a 
stout seaman, who was steering, called to the rowers to 
put about and row hard. This effort happily brought 
them out of the cove into a fair sound, and under a point 
of land, where they came safely to anchor. They were 
divided in their opinions about going on shore; but about 
midnight, the severity of the cold made a fire necessary. 
They therefore got on shore, and with some difficulty 
kindled a fire and rested in safety. 

In the morning they found themselves on a small un- 
inhabited island, w^ithin the entrance of a spacious bay.* 
Here they stayed all the next day (Saturday) drying 
their clothes, cleaning their arms, and repairing, as well 
as they could, their shallop. The following day, being 
the Christian Sabbath, they rested. f 

* This island lias ever since borne the name of Clark's Island, from the mate 
of the ship, the first man who stepped on shore. The cove, where they were in 
danger, lies between the Gurnet Head and Saguish Point, at tlie entrance of 
Plymouth Bay. 

i This was the Fikst Christian Sabbath in New England. "The ' May- 
flower,' a name now immortal, had crossed the ocean. It had borne its hundred 
passengers over the vast deep, and after a perilous voyage, it had reached the 
bleak shores of New England in the beginning of winter. The spot wliich 
was to furnish a home and a burial-place, was now to be selected. Tlie shallop 
was unshipped, but needed repairs, and sixteen weary days elapsed before it 
was ready for service. Amidst ice and snow, it was then sent out, with some 
half a dozen Pilgrims, to find a suitable place where to land. The spray of the 
sea, says the historian, froze on them, and made their clothes like coats of iron. 
Five days they wandered about, searching in vain for a suitable landing-place. 
A storm came on, the snow and rain fell ; the sea swelled ; the rudder broke ; 
the mast and the sail fell overboard. In this storm and cold, without a tent, a 
house, or the shelter of a rock, the Christian Sabbath approached — the day 
which they regarded as holy unto God — a day on which they were not to ' do 



36 JOHN CARVER. 

On Monday, December 11th, they surveyed and 
sounded the bay, which is described to be in the shape 
of a fishhook ; a good harbour for shipping, larger than 
that of Cape Cod ; containing two small islands without 
inhabitants, innumerable store of fowls, different sorts of 
fish, besides shellfish in abundance. As they marched 
into the land,* they found cornfields and brooks, and a 
very good situation for building.f With this joyful 
news they returned to the company, and on the 16th of 

any work.' What should be done? As the evening before the Sabbath drew 
on, they pushed over the surf, entered a fair sound, sheltered themselves iinder 
the lee of a rise of land, kindled a fire, and on that island they spent the day in 
the solemn worship of their Maker. On the next day their feet touched the rock 
now sacred as the place of the landing of the Pilgrims. Nothing more strikingly 
marks the character of this people, than this act. The whole scene — the cold 
winter — the raging sea — the driving storm — the houseless, homeless island — 
the families of wives and children in the distance, weary with their voyage 
and impatient to land — and yet, the sacred observance of a day which they 
kept from 'principle^ and not from mere feeling, or because it was a form of reli- 
gion, shows how deeply imbedded true religion is in the soul, and how little 
a is affected by surrounding difficulties." — [Barnes' Discourse at Worcester.] 

* The rock on which they first stepped ashore at high water, is now enclosed 
with a wharf. The upper part of it was separated from the lower part, and 
drawn into the public square of the town of Plymouth, where it was known 
by the name of The Forefathers' Rock. The 22d of December, (Gregorian 
style) has been regarded by the people of Plymouth as a festival. That portion 
of the rock remaining in the square at Plymouth, was on the 4th July, 1834, 
removed to the new Pilgrim Hall, erected in Plymouth, and placed in front of 
that edifice, under the charge of the Pilgrim Society. A procession was 
formed on the occasion, and passed over Cole's Hill, where lie the ashes of 
those who died the first winter at Plymouth. A miniature representation of the 
Mayflower followed in the procession, placed in a car decorated with flow- 
ers, and drawn by six boys — the whole being preceded by the children of both 
sexes of the several schools in town. The Rock is now enclosed within a rail- 
ing, formed of wrought iron bars, five feet high, resting on a base of hammered 
granite. The heads of the perpendicular bars are harpoons and boat hooks al- 
ternately — the whole embellished with emblematic figures of cast iron. The 
upper part of the railing is encircled with a wreath of iron castings, in imitation 
of heraldry curtains, fringed with festoons ; of these there are forty-one, bearing 
the names of the forty-one puritan fathers, who signed the memorable compact 
while in the cabin of the Mayflower, at Cape Cod, in 1620. Thacher, 199. 

i Mourt's Relation, in I Mass. Hist. Coll. viii. 220. 



JOHN CARVER. 37 

December^ the sliip cunic lo anchor in the harbour, witli 
all the passengers, except four, who died at Cape Cod. 

Having surveyed the land as well as the season would 
permit, in^three days, they pitched upon a high ground 
on the southwest side of the bay, which was cleared of 
wood, and had formerly been planted. Under the south 
side of it was "a very sweet brook, in the entrance of 
which the shallop and boats could be secured, and many 
delicate springs of as good water as could be drank." 
On the opposite side of the brook was a cleared field, 
and beyond it a commanding eminence, on which they 
intended to lay a platform and mount their cannon. 

They went immediately to work laying out house-lots, 
and a street ; felling, sawing, riveing, and carrying timber; 
and before the end of December, though much inter- 
rupted by stormy weather, by the death of two, and the 
sickness of many of their number, they had erected a 
store-house, with a thatched roof, in which their goods 
were deposited under a guard. Two rows of houses 
were begun, and, as fast as they could be covered,* the 
people, who were classed into nineteen families, came 
ashore, and were lodged in them. On Lord's day, the 
31st of December, they attended Divine service for the 
first time on shore, and named the place Plymouth, 
partly because this harbour was so called in Capt. Smith's 
map, published three or four years before, and partly in 
remembrance of the very kind and friendly treatment 

* The first houses in Plymouth were on each side of a single street, which 
leads from the old church to the water side. "We agreed that every man 
should build his own house, thinking by that course men would make more 
haste than working in common." Mourt, in I Mass. Ilist. Coll. viii. 223. On 
the place where it is supposed the common house stood, in digging a cellar in 
1801, there were discovered several tools, and a plate of iron, seven feet below 
the surface of the ground. Holmes, i. 16G. 



38 " JOHN CARVER. 

which they liad received from the inhabitants of Ply- 
mouth, the hist port of their native country from which 
they sailed.* 

At this time, some of the people lodged on shore, and 
others on board the ship, which lay at the distance of a 
mile and a half from the town, and, when the tide was 
out, there could be no communication between them. 
On the 14th of January, very early in the morning, as 
Governor Carver and Mr. Bradford lay sick in bed at 
the storehouse, the thatched roof, by means of a spark, 
caught on fire, and was soon consumed ; but, by the timely 
assistance of the people on shore, the lower part of the 
building was preserved. Here were deposited their 
whole stock of ammunition and several loaded guns ; but, 
happily, the fire did not reach them. The fire was seen 
by the people on board the ship, who could not come 

* The original Indian name of the place was .Accomack, which means over 
the mater. It is evident that Accomack and Plymouth correspond ; but when 
the Pilgrims arrived, they were told by Samoset that the place was called Pa- 
tuxet. See, in Smith's General History, folio edition, the Map of New England 
as "observed and described in 1614." Smith's " Description of New England," 
was published in 1616. " I took (says he) the description as well by map as 
writing, and called it New England." He dedicated his work to Prince Charles, 
begging him to change the " barbarous names." In the list of Indian names 
given by Smith, which were changed by Prince Charles, Accomack was 
altered to Plimouth. See Force's Tracts, vol. ii. p. xii, of No. I. Smith, in his 
" Generall Historic," edition of 1626, page 247, describes "the Present estate 
of JVeio Plimoth, m 1624;" and in his "True Travels," edition of 1630, page 
46, he speaks of the condition of " J\ c?o Plymouth," in 1629. In III Mass. 
Hist. Coll. iii.. Smith's "Pathway to a Plantation," published in 1631, is re- 
printed with a map, upon which Plimouth appears. The folio edition of his 
*' Generall Historic, " published in 1632, has apparently the same Map, with 
several corrections, and among others, the words "New Plimouth," for ^'■Pli- 
mouth." In a map, entitled " The South part of New England, as it is planted 
this year, 16-34," inserted in the first edition of Wood's New England Prospect, 
a place near Narraghanset Bay is named Old Plymouth; and in the same map, 
the Plymouth, which was settled in 1620, is called JVew Plymouth. By Old 
Plymouth, thoiigh not correctly placed on the map, was probably meant the 
ephemeral settlement of Gosnold, on Elizabeth Island, in 1602. Holmes' Ann. 
i. 119. 



JOHN CARVER. 39 

on shore till an hour afterwards. They were greatly 
alarmed at the appearance, because two men, who had 
strolled into the woods, were missing, and they were 
apprehensive that the Indians had made an attack on the 
place. In the evening the strollers found their way 
home, almost dead with hunger, fatigue, and cold. 

The bad weather and severe hardships to which this 
company were exposed, in a climate much more rigorous 
than any to which they had ever been accustomed, with 
the scorbutic habits contracted in their voyage, and by liv- 
ing so long on shipboard, caused a great mortality among 
them in the winter. Before the month of April, nearly 
one half of them died.* At some times the number of 
the sick w^as so great, that not more than six or seven 
were fit for duty, and these were almost wholly employed 
in attending the sick. The ship's company was in the 
same situation, and Captain Jones, though earnestly de- 
sirous to get away, was obliged to stay till April, having 
lost one half of his men. 

By the beginning of March, the governor was so far 
recovered of his first illness, that he was able to walk 
three miles to visit a large pond, which Francis Billington 
had discovered from the top of a tree on a hill. At first 
it was supposed to be a part of the ocean, but it proved 
to be the headwater of the brook which runs by the town. 
It has ever since borne the name of its first discoverer,f 
which might otherwise have been forgotten. 

Hitherto they had not seen any of the natives at this 

* The exact bill of mortality, as collected by Prince, is as follows : In De- 
cember, 6; January, 8; P\'bruary, 17; March, 13— total, 44. Of these, 21 
were subscribers to the civil compact; and 23 were women, children, and ser- 
vants. 

t It is to this day called Billington Sea. 



« 
40 JOHN CARVER. 

place. The mortal pestilence which raged through the 
country four years before^ had almost depopulated it. 
One remarkable circumstance attending this pestilence, 
was not known till after the settlement was made. A 
French ship had been wrecked on Cape Cod. The 
men were saved with their provisions and goods.* The 
natives kept their eye on them, till they found an oppor- 
tunity to kill all but three or four, and divide their goods. 
The captives were sent from one tribe to another as 
slaves. One of them learned so much of their language 
as to tell them, that " God was angry with them for their 
cruelty, and would destroy them and give their country 
to another people." They answered, that " they were 
too many for God to kill." He replied that, "if they 
were ever so many, God had many ways to kill, of which 
they were then ignorant." When the pestilence came 
among them, (a new disease, probably the yellow fever,f) 
they remembered the Frenchman's words, and, when the 
Plymouth settlers arrived at Cape Cod, the few survivors 
imagined that the other part of his prediction would soon 
be accomplished. Soon after their arrival, the Indian 
priests or powows convened, and performed their incan- 
tations in a dark swamp three days successively, with a 
view to curse and destroy the new comers. Had they 
known the mortality which raged amongst them, they 
would have doubtless rejoiced in the success of their 
endeavours, and might very easily have taken advantage 

* Morton, 27. 

t Of the peculiar nature of this pestilence, we have no certain information. 
Gookin says he " had discoursed with some old Indians who were then youths, 
who told him that the bodies of the sick were all over exceeding yellow (which 
they described by pointing to a yellow garment) both before they died and 
afterward." I Mass. Hist. Coll. i. 148. 



JOHN CARVER. 41 

of their weakness to exterminate them.* But none of 
them were seen till after the sickness had abated, though 
some tools which had been left in the woods were miss- 
ing, which they had stolen in the night. 

On the sixteenth of March, when the spring was so 
far advanced as to invite them to make their gardens, a 
savage came boldly into the place alone, walked through 
the street to the rendezvous or storehouse, and pro- 
nounced the words. Welcome, Englishmen! His name 
was Samoset; he belonged to a place distant five days' 
journey to the eastward, and had learned of the fisher- 
men to speak broken English. 

He was received with kindness and hospitality, and 
he informed them " that, by the late pestilence, and a 
ferocious war, the number of his countrymen had been 
so diminished, that not more than one in twenty remained ; 
that the spot where they were now seated was called 
Patuxet, and, though formerly populous, yet every human 
being in it had died of the pestilence." This account 
was confirmed by the extent of the fields, the number of 
graves, and the remnants of skeletons lying on the ground. 

The account which he gave of himself was, " that he 
had been absent from home eight moons, part of the time 
among the Nausets, their nearest neighbours at the south- 
east, who were about one hundred strong, and more 
lately among the Wampanoags at the westward, who 
were about sixty ; that he had heard of the attack made 
on them by the Nausets at Namskeket ; that these people 

* During the first winter, the settlers buried their dead on the banks of the 
shore, since called Cole's hill, near their own dwellings, taking especial care by 
levelling the earth to conceal from the Indians the number and frequency of the 
deaths. Dr. Holmes mentions a tradition, that the graves at that spot, after the 
great mortality alluded to, were levelled and sown over by the settlers, to conceal 
their loss from the natives. Thacher, 28. 

6 



42 JOHN CARVER. 

were full of resentment against the Europeans, on account 
of the perfidy of Hunt, master of an English vessel, 
who had some years before the pestilence decoyed some 
of the natives (twenty from Patuxet and seven from 
Nauset) on board his ship, and sold them as slaves; that 
they had killed three English fishermen, besides the 
Frenchmen afore mentioned, in revenge for this affront. 
He also gave information of the lost tools, and promised 
to see them restored, and that he would bring the natives 
to trade with them." 

Samoset being dismissed with a present, returned the 
next day with five more of the natives, bringing the stolen 
tools, and a few skins for trade.* They were dismissed 
with a request to bring more, which they promised to do 

* " But, being the Lord's day, we would not trade, but, entertaining them, 
bid them come again." Mourt. The same author, speaking of this friendly 
sachem, whose salutation of " Welcome !" must have been grateful to the in- 
habitants, says he was naked, " only a leather about his waist, with a fringe 
about a span long." The weat?ier was very cold, and "we cast a horseman's 
coat about him." " He had a bow and two arrows, the one headed and the other 
unheaded. He was a tall straight man; the hair of his head black, long be- 
hind, only short before ; none on his face at all. He asked some beer, but we 
gave him strong water and biscuit, and butter and cheese, and pudding, and a 
piece of mallard ; all which he liked well." Samoset's companions, "had 
every man a deer skin on him ; and the principal of them had a wild cat's skin, 
or such like, on one arm. They had most of them long hosen up to their 
groins, close made ; and above their groins to their waist, another leather : they 
were altogether like the Irish trousers. They are of complexion like our 
English gipsies ; no hair, or very little on their faces ; on their heads long hair 
to their shoulders, only cut before ; some trussed up before with a feather, broad- 
wise like a fan ; another a foxtail, hanging out." The English had charged Samo- 
set not to let any who came with him bring their arms; these, therefore, left 
"their bows and arrows a quarter of a mile from our town. We gave them 
entertainment as we thought was fitting them. They did eat liberally of our 
English victuals;" and appeared very friendly ; " sang and danced after their 
manner, like antics." "Some of them had their faces painted black, from the 
forehead to the chin, four or five fingers broad ; others after other fashions, as 
they liked. They brought three or four skins, but we would not truck with 
them all that day, but wished them to bring more, and we would truck for all. 
So because of the day [Sunday] we dismissed them so soon as we could." 



JOHN CARVER. 43 

in ;\ few days. Samoset feigned himself sick, and re- 
mained ; but as his companions did not return at the time, 
he was sent to inquire the reason. 

On the 22d, he returned, in company with Squanto, 
or Squantum, a native of Patuxet, and the only one then 
living. He was one of the twenty whom Hunt had car- 
ried away ; he had been sold in Spain ; had lived in Lon- 
don with John Slaney, merchant, treasurer of the New- 
foundland Company ; had learned the English language, 
and came back to his native country with the fishermen.* 
These two persons were deputed by the sachem of the 
Wampanoags, J\Ias-sas-o-it,-\ whose residence was at 
Sowams or Pokanoket, on the Narragansett Bay, to an- 

* Thomas Hunt, the first kidnapper and slave-dealer on the coast of North 
America, commanded one of the ships, with which Captain Smith came to 
New England in 1614. Smith sailed for England in July, and left Hunt with 
directions to procure a cargo, and proceed to Spain. His atrocious conduct is 
thus related by Prince, from Smith, Mourt, &c. "After Smith left New 
Englamd, flunt gets twenty Indians on board him at Patuxet, one of whom is 
called Srjuanto, or Squantum, or Tisquantnm, and 7 more of Nauset, and carried 
them to Malaga, sells them for slaves at £20 a man, which raises such an en- 
mity in the savages against our nation, as makes further attempts of commerce 
with them very dangerous." " Smith, generous and humane as he was in- 
trepid, indignantly reprobates the base conduct of Hunt." Many of these 
helpless captives, it appears, were rescued from slavery by the benevolent in- 
terposition of some of the Monks in Malaga. Squanto was probably one who 
was thus relieved and liberated. He found a friend in Mr. Slaney in England, 
by whose assistance he was enabled to return to his native land, on board of 
Capt. Thomas Dormer's vessel in 1619. Thacher, 33. Drake supposes that 
Squanto, or Tisquanlum, was carried away by Weymoutli, in 16(15, and cites 
Sir F. Gorges, as his authority. Book of the Indians, b. ii. 4. The Tasquan- 
tum seized by Weymouth, was probably not among those who were kidnapped 
by Hunt, unless, nine years having intervened, we may suppose him to have 
been twice seized and carried away. 

i Prince says, that Mas-sas-o-it, is a word of four syllables, and was so pro- 
nounced by the ancient people of Plymouth (p. 101.) This remark is confirmed 
by the manner in which it is spelled in some parts of Winslow's Narrative, Ma- 
sas-o-wat. The sachem, in conformity to a custom among the Indians, after- 
wards changed his name to Owsamequin, or Woosamequen. See Drake's 
Book of the Indians, b. ii. 2^>. 



44 JOHN CARVER. 

nounce his coming, and bring some skins as a present. 
In about an hour the sachem, with his brother Qua-de- 
qui-7iah, and his whole force of sixty men, appeared on 
the hill over against them. Squanto was sent to know 
his pleasure, and returned with the sachem's request 
that one of the company should come to him. Edward 
Winslow immediately went alone, carrying a present in 
his hand, with the governor's compliments, desiring to 
see the sachem, and enter on a friendly treaty. Massa- 
soit left Wmslow in the custody of his brother, to whom 
another present was made, and, taking twenty of his men, 
unarmed, descended the hill towards the brook, over 
which lay a log bridge. Captain Miles Standish, at the 
head of six men, met him at the brook, and escorted 
him and his train to one of the best houses, where three 
or four cushions were placed on a green rug spread over 
the floor. The governor came in, preceded by a drum 
and trumpet, which greatly delighted the Indians. After 
mutual salutations,* he entered into conversation with the 
sachem, which issued in a treaty. The articles were, " 1. 
That neither he nor his should injure any of ours. 2. 
That if they did, he should send the offender, that we 
might punish him. 3. That if our tools were taken away, 
he should restore them. 4. That if any unjustly warred 
against him, we would aid him; and if any warred against 
us, he should aid us. 5. That he should certify his 

* " Our govemoiir kissing his hand, the king kissed him, and so they sat 
down." Mourt, in I Mass. Hist. Coll. viii. 229. On page 230 of the same, 
Massasoit is thus described : " In his person he is a very lusty man, in his best 
years, an able body, grave of countenance, and sparing of speech ; in attire 
little or nothing differing from the rest of his followers, only in a great chain 
of white bone beads about his neck, and at it behind his neck hangs a little bag 
of tobacco, which he drank (smoked) and gave us to drink. His face was paint- 
ed with a sad red-like murrey, and oiled both head and face, that he looked 
greasily. The king had in his bosom, hanging by a string, a great long knife." 



JOHN CARVER. 45 

neighbour confederates of this, that they might not 
wrong us, but be comprised in the conditions of peace. 
6. That when their men came to us, they should leave 
their bows and arrows behind them, as we should leave 
our pieces, when we came to them. 7. That in doing 
thus. King James would esteem him as his friend and 
ally." 

All which Massasoit cheerfully assented to, and at 
at the same time "acknowledged himself content to 
become the subject of our sovereign lord the king afore- 
said, his heirs and successors ; and gave unto them all the 
lands adjacent, to them and their heirs forever."* 

The conference being ended, and the company hav- 
ing been entertained with such refreshments as the place 
afforded, the sachem returned to his camp. This treaty, 
the work of one day, being honestly intended on both 
sides, was kept with fidelity as long as Massasoit lived, 
but was afterwards broken by Philip, his successor. 

The next day, Massasoit sent for some of the English 
to visit him. Captain Standish and Isaac Allerton went, 
were kindly received, and treated with groundnuts and 
tobacco. 

The sachem then returned to his headquarters, distant 
about forty miles ; but Squantum and Samoset remain- 
ed at Plymouth, and instructed the people how to plant 

* " Tlie New Plymouth associates, by the favor of the Almighty, began the 
colony in New England, at a place called by the natives Apaum, alias Patuxet ; 
all the lands being void of inhabitants, we, the said John Carver, William 
Bradford, Edward Winslow, William Brewster, Isaac Allerton, and the rest of 
our associates, entering into a league of peace with Massasoit, since called 
Woosamequen, Prince, or Sachem of those parts, he the said Massasoit freely 
gave them all the land adjacent to them and their heirs forever." See, in the 
Preface to the Laws of New Plymouth, 1685, "The Warrantable Grounds and 
Proceedings of the first Associates of New Plimouth, in their laying the first 
Foundation of this Government." 



46 JOHN CARVER. 

their corn, and dress it with herrings, of which an im- 
mense quantity came into the brooks. The ground which 
they planted with corn was twenty acres. They sowed 
six acres with barley and pease ; the former yielded an 
indifferent crop, but the latter were parched with the 
heat, and came to nothing. 

While they were engaged in this labour, in which all 
were alike employed, on the 5th of April, (the day on 
which the Mayflower sailed for England,) Governor Car- 
ver came out of the field at noon, complaining of a pain in 
his head, caused by the heat of the sun.* It soon deprived 
him of his senses, and on the 6th of April, 1621, put an 
end to his life, to the great grief of this infant plantation. f 
He was buried with all the honors which could be shown 
to the memory of a good man by a grateful people. The 
men were under arms, and fired several volleys over his 
grave. Jasper, a son of Governor Carver, had died on 
the 6th of December preceding, and his affectionate wife, 
overcome with grief for the loss of her husband and son, 
soon followed them to the grave. 

Elizabeth, a daughter, married John Rowland ;| and 

* Baylies observes, " it is not a little remarkable that such an effect should 
have been produced in this climate in the month of April." 

] At a general meeting, March 23d, sundry laws were enacted, and Mr. 
Carver was " chosen, or rather confirmed," governor for the ensuing year. He 
sustained the office four months and twenty days only. The whole number of 
survivors in the colony at the time of his death was fifty-five only. 

X John Howland, the thirteenth signer of the compact, is counted as belong- 
ing to Carver's family, whose daughter he married. The Plymouth colony 
records speak of him as " an ancient professor of the ways of Christ; one of 
the first comers, and proved a useful instrument of good, and was [one of] the 
last of the male survivors of those who came over in the Mayflower in 1620, 
and whose place of abode was Plymouth." John Alden of Duxbury, outlived 
him fifteen years. The last survivor of tlie Mayflower was Mary Cushman, 
daughter of Isaac Allerton. Howland died 23d February 1672, at Rocky Nook 
in Kingston, aged 80. He had four sons and six daughters, some of whose 



JOHN CARVER. 47 

there were other children remaining, but their names 
are nowhere mentioned ; neither do they appear at any 
subsequent time in the annals of the colony ; they attain- 
ed no civil honors; they rose to no distinction; but less 
fortunate than the children of other governors, they 
remained in obscurity, and were unnoticed by the people. 
The name of Carver does not appear in the assignment 
of lands in 1623, nor in the division of cattle in 1627. 
William, a grandson of Governor Carver, who lived at 
Marshfield, acquired some notoriety on account of his 
extreme age, having lived until he was one hundred and 
two years old. This grandson, when ninety-six years old, 
was seen labouring in the same field with his son, grand- 
son, and great-grandson, w hile an infant of the fifth gener- 
ation was in his house. He died 2d October, 1760. 
It has been said that Jonathan Carver, the traveller, who 
died in London, 31 Jan. 1780, was a descendant of the 
governor.* 

Governor Carver is represented as a man of great 
prudence, integrity, and firmness of mind. He had a 
good estate in England, which he spent in the emigra- 
tion to Holland and America. He was one of the fore- 
most in action, and bore a large share of sufferings in the 
service of the colony, who confided in him as their friend 
and father. Piety, humility, and benevolence were emi- 
nent traits in his character, and it is particularly remarked 
that in the time of general sickness which befel the 
colony, and with which he was affected, after he had 

descendants are still living in the Old Colony, and in Rhode Island. A gene- 
alogy of the family, written by one of them, the venerable John Rowland, 
President of the Rhode Island Historical Society, is inserted in Thacher's Ply- 
mouth, p. 129. 

* Edinb. Encyclopedia, (Amer. edit.) v. 467, 



48 JOHN CARVER. 

himself recovered, he was assiduous, in attending the sick, 
and performing the most humihating services for them, 
without any distinction of persons or characters. 

In the records of the Church at Plymouth, due men- 
tion is made of the sad loss sustained by the church and 
colony in the death of Governor Carver. ^^ This worthy 
gendeman was one of singular piety, and rare for humil- 
ity, which appeared, as otherwise, so by his great con- 
descendency, when as this miserable people were in great 
sickness, he shunned not to do very mean services for 
them, yea, the meanest of them. He bare a share like- 
wise of their labours in his own person, according as their 
great necessity required. Who being one also of con- 
siderable estate, spent the main part of it in this enterprise, 
and from first to last approved himself not only as their 
agent in the first transaction of things, but also along to 
the period of his life, to be a pious, faithful, and very 
beneficial instrument."* 

The memory of Governor Carver is still held in 
esteem ; and a broadsword, and other relics, which be- 
longed to him, are preserved at Pilgrim Hall in Ply- 
mouth, or in the cabinet of the Historical Society at 
Boston, as precious memorials of the first chief magistrate 
of the Old Colony. 

* MS. Records Plymouth Church, i. 27. 



49 



II. WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

When, at the commencement of the seventeenth 
century, the little band of English Puritans gathered 
together, and formed their congregation, near the con- 
fines of the counties of York, Nottingham and Lincoln, — 
choosing for their ministers, Richard Clifton and John 
Robinson, — a sedate youth, then scarcely twelve years 
of age, of grave countenance and earnest manner, was 
observed to be a constant attendant upon their meetings. 
That youth was William Bradford, an orphan. He 
was born in the year 1588, at Austerfield, an obscure 
village in Yorkshire. His parents dying while he was a 
child, his education was provided for by his grand parents 
and uncles ; but was hmited almost exclusively to those 
branches of knowledge deemed necessary to an agri- 
cultural life, and such as generally falls to the share of 
the children of English husbandmen. Deprived of other 
sources of information, his love of reading naturally sought 
gratification in the Bible, and he drank deep of the foun- 
tain of truth in the sacred volume. He thus acquired 
those deep impressions of piety, and that inflexible love 
for, and disposition to maintain what he believed to be 
the truth, for which he was afterwards distinguished. 

His attendance upon the ministrations of Clifton, 
deeply offended his relatives. They were hostile to the 
n^w sect, and their hostility was not likely to be softened 
by the reflection, that one of their family, dependent in 
some degree upon their friendship, had presumed, in 
opposition to their remonstrances, to embrace the faith 
of the puritans. Young Bradford was therefore exposed 
7 



50 WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

to their resentment, as well as to the jeers and scoffs 
of his juvenile companions. But he had deliberately 
made up his mind, in the full belief that his course was 
right — and no persuasion nor menaces could induce him 
to abandon the faith which he had thus adopted. 

When he was eighteen years old, in the autumn of 
1607, Mr. Bradford became one of the company who 
resolved upon an early removal to Holland, as the only 
means of escape from persecution. The narrative of 
their two first attempts, is best recited in the words of 
Bradford himself, as follows : 

^^ There was a large company of them proposed to 
get passage at Boston, in Lincolnshire, and for that end 
had hired a ship wholly to themselves, and made agree- 
ment with the master to be ready at a certain day, and 
take them and their goods in at a convenient place, where 
accordingly they would all attend in readiness. So af- 
ter Long waiting and large expense, though he kept not 
day with them, yet he came at length and took them 
in, in the night. But when he had them and their goods 
aboard, he betrayed them, having beforehand complotted 
with the searchers and other officers so to do, who took 
them and put them into open boats, and then rifled and 
ransacked them, searching them to their shirts for money, 
yea, even the women, further than became modesty, and 
then carried them back into the town, and made them 
a spectacle and wonder to the multitude, which came 
flocking on all sides to behold them. Being thus, first 
by the catch-poles, rifled and stript of their money, books, 
and much other goods, they were presented to the magis- 
trates, and messengers sent to inform the lords of the 
council of them, and so they were committed to ward. 
Indeed, the magistrates used them courteously, and shew- 



WILLIAM BRADFORD. 51 

rd lluMii wliat favor they could, but could not deliver 
llu;m till order came from the council table; but the 
issue was, that after a month's imprisonment, the greatest 
]xu'{ were dismissed and sent to the places from whence 
they came, but seven of the principal men were still kept 
in prison, and bound over to the assizes.* 

" The next spring after, there was another attempt 
made, by some of these and others, to get over at another 
place. And so it fell out that they light of a Dutchman 
at Hull, having a ship of his own belonging to Zealand. 
They made agreement with him and acquainted him with 
their condition, hoping to find more faithfulness in him 
than in the former of their own nation. He bade them not 
fear, for he would do well enough. He was by appoint- 
ment to take them in between Grimsby and Hull, where 
was a large common a good way distant from any town. 
Now against the prefixed time, the women and children, 
with the goods, were sent to the place in a small bark, 
which they had hired for that end, and the men were 
to meet them by land ; but it so fell out that they were 
there a day before the ship came, and the sea being rough, 
and the women very sick, prevailed with the seamen to 
put into a creek hard by, where they lay on ground at 
low water. The next morning the ship came, but they 
were fast and could not stir till about noon. In the 
meantime the shipmaster, perceiving how the matter 
was, sent his boat to get the men aboard whom he saw 
ready, A^alking about the shore, but after the first boat- 
full was got aboard, and she was ready to go for more, 
the master espied a great company both horse and foot, 
with bills, and guns, and other weapons, for the country 
was raised to take them. The Dutchman seeing that, 

* Bradford was among the number arrested upon this occasion, and was re- 
leased in consideration of his youth. 



52 WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

swore his country oath ^ sacramente/ and having the 
wind fair, weighed anchor, hoisted sails, and away. 
After enduring a fearful storm at sea for fourteen days 
or more, seven whereof they never saw sun, moon nor 
stars, and being driven near the coast of Norway, 
they arrived at their desired haven, where the people 
came flocking, admiring their deliverance, the storm 
having been so long and sore, in which much hurt had 
been done, as the master's friends related to him in 
their congratulations. The rest of the men that were in 
greatest danger, made a shift to escape away before the 
troop could surprise them, those only staying that best 
might be assisting unto the women. But pitiful it was 
to see the heavy case of these poor women in distress ; 
what weeping and crying on every side, some for their 
husbands that were carried away in the ship, others not 
knowing what should become of them and their little ones, 
crying for fear, and quaking with cold. Being appre- 
hended, they were hurried from one place to another till 
in the end they knew not what to do with them ; for, to 
imprison so many women with their innocent children, for 
no other cause, many of them, but that they would go 
with their husbands, seemed to be unreasonable, and all 
would cry out of them ; and to send them home again 
was as difficult, for they alleged, as the truth was, they 
had no homes to go to, for they had either sold or other- 
wise disposed of their houses and livings. To be short, 
after they had been thus turmoiled a good while, and 
conveyed from one constable to another, they were glad to 
be rid of them in the end upon any terms, though, in the 
meantime, they, poor souls, endured misery enough."* 

* See Appendix, No. I, Hutchinson's History of the Province of Massachu- 
setts Bay, p. 449; or Bradford's Hist, in Young's Chronicles, 26. 



WILLIAM BRADFORD. 53 

After some time, Mr. Bradford succeeded in going 
over to Zealand J though he encountered many dillicul- 
ties. He had no sooner sat his foot upon the shore, than 
a malicious person, who had come as passenger in the 
same vessel, accused him before the Dutch magistrates, 
as a fugitive from England. But the magistrates were 
not disposed to heed the tale of the slanderer, and when 
upon inquiry they came to understand the cause and cir- 
cumstances of Bradford's emigration, instead of putting 
him to further inconvenience, they gave him their pro- 
tection, and permission to join his friends at Amsterdam. 

Finding it impossible successfully to prosecute agri- 
culture in Holland, he was obliged to betake himself to 
some other occupation ; and, being then under age, he 
put himself as an apprentice to a French Protestant, who 
taught him the art of silk-dyeing. As soon as he at- 
tained the years of manhood, he sold his paternal estate 
in England, and entered on a commercial life, in which 
it appears that he was not successful. 

When the Church of Leyden contemplated a remo- 
val to America, Bradford zealously engaged in the 
undertaking, and came with the first company of emi- 
grants in 1620, to Cape Cod. While the ship lay in 
that harbour, he was one of the foremost in the several 
hazardous attempts to find a proper place for the seat 
of the colony, in one of which he, with others of the 
principal persons, narrowly escaped the destruction 
which threatened their shallop.* On his return from 
this excursion to the ship, with the joyful news of having 
found a safe harbour and a place for settlement, he 
was met by the unwelcome intelligence, that, during his 

* Prince, 7G. See account in Life of Carver, pp. 33-35, of this volume. 



54 WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

absence, his wife had accidentally fallen into the sea and 
was drowned.* 

After the sudden death of Governor Carver, in April, 
1621, the eyes of the infant colony were turned to Mr. 
Bradford, as the proper person to succeed him; but, 
being so very ill at that time that his life was despaired 
of, they waited for his recovery, and then invested him 
with the chief magistracy. He was at this time in the 
thirty-third year of his age ; his wisdom, piety, fortitude, 
and goodness of heart, were so conspicuous as to merit 
the sincere esteem of the people. 

While Carver lived, he was the sole executive officer. 
No oath of office was required, and he entered upon his 
official duties without ceremony or parade. The legisla- 
tive and judicial power was in the whole body of the 
people, who had the most entire confidence, that he 
would not adventure on any matter of moment without 
their consent, or the advice of the wisest among them. 
When Mr. Bradford came to be governor, he requested 
that an assistant or deputy governor should be appointed, 
and the choice fell upon Isaac Allerton.f This measure 

* Mrs. B. was drowned on the 7th of December. Prince, 76. Of this lady, 
we learn from Prince, that her baptismal name was Dorothy ; and from a letter 
written at Leyden, by Roger White, addressed to Governor Bradford, it appears 
that her maiden name was May. I Mass. Hist. Coll. iii. 43. 

t Isaac AUerton came over in the Mayflower, with his wife and four chil- 
dren. His wife, Mary, died 25th February, 1621, and a few years afterwards 
he married Fear Brewster, daughter of Elder William Brewster. In point of 
property, he ranked first in the colony, and was a man of consideration in other 
respects. He was sent to England in the fall of 1626, to complete a negotiation 
which Standisb had commenced with the adventurers there, but had been obliged 
to abandon on account of the plague then raging in London. Prince, 156, 162. 
He returned in the spring of 1627, having conditionally purchased for his asso- 
ciates the rights of the adventurers for the sum of £1800, to be paid in seven years. 
He also borrowed £200 at 30 per cent, interest, " to the great content of the 
plantation." Prince, 165. He took a second voyage as agent in 1627, during 
which he procured a patent for a trading place on the Kennebeck. He made 
two voyages to England in 1629, to procure a new and enlarged patent for the 



WILLIAM BRADFORD. 55 

was deemed advisable from the precarious health of 
Governor Bradford^ and also to avoid any interregnum 
in the government, in case of his death before his term 
of oflice expired, as had happened in the case of Gover- 
nor Carver.* They appointed but one assistant to the 
governor, because they were so reduced in number, that 
to have made a greater disproportion between rulers and 
people, would have been absurd, and they knew that it 
would be in their power to increase the number when- 
ever the circumstances of the colony should require it. 
Their voluntary combination was probably at this time 
considered only as a temporary expedient, until they 
should obtain a charter under the authority of the king. 

One of the first acts of Bradford's administration was, 
by advice of the company, to send Edward Winslow 
and Stephen Hopkins to Massasoit, Math Squanto, for 
their guide. The design of this embassy was to explore 
the country ; to confirm the league with that sachem ; to 
learn the situation and strength of their new friend ; to 
carry him some presents ; to apologize for some misbe- 
haviour on the part of the settlers ; to regulate the inter- 
course between them and the Indians, and to procure 
seed-corn for the next planting season. 

These gentlemen found the sachem at Pokanoket,f 

colony. But ho met with many difficulties; "many locks (says Shirley) mubt 
be opened with the silver, nay, with the golden key." I Mass. Hist. Coll. iir. 
70. He gave "great and just offence (says Prince) in bringing over Morton," 
the unruly leader at Merry Mount. But he was in the end successful in his 
difficult undertaking for the colony, although the expenses and misunderstand- 
ings growing out of the transaction, appear to have occasioned his final separa- 
tion from the colonists. He returned to England in 1G31, arid was " no more 
employed by the plantation." He became an enterprising trader at Penobscot, 
and elsewhere, and afterwards removed to New-Haven, where he died in 1G5D. 

» Hubbard's Hist. N. E. Gl. 

t This was a general name for the northern shore of the Narragansett Bay\ 
between Providence and Taunton Rivers, and comprehending the present tuwn/- 



56 WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

distance about forty miles from Plymouth. They deliv- 
ered the presents, renewed the friendship, and satisfied 
themselves respecting the strength, of the natives, which 
did not appear to be formidable, nor was the entertain- 
ment which they received either liberal or splendid. 
The marks of desolation and death, by reason of the late 
pestilence, were very conspicuous in all the country 
through which they passed ; but they were informed that 
the Narragansetts, who resided on the western shore of 
the bay of that name, were very numerous, and that the 
pestilence had not reached them. 

After the return of this embassy, another was sent 
to Nauset,* to recover a boy who had strayed away from 
New Plymouth, and had been taken up by some of the 
Indians of that place. They were so fortunate as to re- 
cover the boy, and make peace with Aspinet, the sachem, 
whom they paid for the seed corn which they had taken 
out of the ground at Paomet, in the preceding autumn.f 
During this expedition, an old woman, who had never 
before seen any white people, burst into tears of grief 
and rage at the sight of them. She had lost three sons, 
by the perfidy of Thomas Hunt, who decoyed them, with 
others, on board his ship, and sold them for slaves. 

ships of Bristol, Warren, and Barrington, in the State of Rhode Island, and 
Swansey in Massachusetts. Its northern extent is unknown. The principal 
seats of the sachem were at Sowams and Keekamuit. The former is a neck of 
land, formed by the confluence of Barrington and Palmer's Rivers; the latter is 
Mount Hope. See Callender's Century Discourse, pp. 30, 73. 

* Now Eastham, Mass. 

t Mourt's Relation, in Purchas, iv. 1853. " We sent Tisquantum to tell 
Aspinet, the sachem of Nauset, wherefore we came. After sunset, Aspinet 
came with a great train, and brought the boy with him, one bearing him through 
the water. He had not less than an hundred with him; the half whereof came 
to the shallop side, unarmed with him ; the other stood aloof with their bows 
and arrows. There he delivered us the boy, behung with beads, and made 
peace with us, we bestowing a knife on him, and likewise on another that first 
entertained the boy and brought him thither. So they departed from us." 



WILLIAM BRADFORD. 57 

Sqiiaiito, who was present^ told her that he had been 
carried away at the same time ; that Hunt was a bad 
man ; that his countrymen disapproved of his conduct, 
and that the En<^Hsh at Plymouth would not offer them 
any injury. This declaration, accompanied by a small 
present, appeased her anger, though it was impossible 
to remove the cause of her grief. 

It was fortunate for the colonists, that they had secured 
the friendship of Massasoit, for his influence was found to 
be very great among all the surrounding tribes. He was 
regarded and reverenced by all the natives, from the Bay 
of Narragansett to that of Massachusetts. T hough some 
of the petty sachems were disposed to be jealous of the 
new colony, and to disturb its peace, yet their mutual con- 
nection with and reliance upon the advice of Massasoit, 
proved the means of its preservation ; as a proof of which, 
nine of these sachems voluntarily came to Plymouth, and 
there subscribed an instrument of submission, in the 
following terms, viz : 

" September 13, Anno Dom. 1621. Know all men by 
these Presents, that we, whose Names are under written, 
do acknowledge ourselves to be the Loyal Subjects of King 
James, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, De- 
fender of the Faith, Slc. In witness whereof, and as a 
Testimonial of the same, we have Subscribed our Names, 
or Marks, as followeth : 

Ohquamehud, Chikkatabak, 

Cawnacome, Quadaquina, 

Obbatinnua, Huttamoiden, 

Nattawahunt, Apanjvow."* 

Caunbatant, 

* Obbatinnua, or Obbatinowat, was one of the MassachuseUs saclicms; his 

8 



58 WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

Hobbamockj* another of these subordinate chiefs^ 
came and took up his residence at Plymouth^ where he 
continued as a faithful guide and interpreter as long as 
he lived. The Indians of the Island of Capawock, which 
had now obtained the name of Martha's or Martin's Vine- 
yard^ also sent messengers of peace. 

residence was on or near tlie Peninsula of Shawmut, (Boston.) Chikkatabak, or 
Chicketawbut, was the sagamore of Neponset, (Dorchester,) and is frequently 
mentioned in the History of Massachusetts. [See especially the early part of 
Winthrop's Journal.] He died of the small pox in November, 1633. These 
Massachusetts sachems were not completely independent, but acknowledged a 
degree of subjection to Massasoit. Caunbatant, or Corbitant j his residence was 
at Mattapuyst, a neck of land in the township of Swansey. Mr. Winglow, who 
had frequent conferences with him at his wigwam and other places, represents 
him as a liollow-hearted friend to the Plymouth planters, 'a notable politician, 
yet full of merry jests and squibs, and never better pleased than when the like 
are returned again upon him.' Quadaquina, or Quindaquina, was a brother of 
Massasoit. Of the live other sachems, who signed the instrument of submission, 
no satisfactory account can be given. Davis' note, Morton's Mem. 67. 

Cawnacome, or Caunacum, was sachem of Manomet, (Sandwich,) and died, 
it is said, in 1623. Prince, 126, 133. The name Apannow has a singular resem- 
blance to Epenow, who was a native of the southern part of Cape Cod, sup- 
posed to have been carried to England by Captain Harlow, in 1611, and who 
returned from England with Captain Ilarley, in 1614. Prince, 41. "In 
Mourt's Relation, quoted by Prince (p. Ill,) it is said, 'Yea, Massasoit, in wri- 
ting, under his hand to Captain Standisli, has owned the King of England to 
be his master, both he and many other kings under him, as of Pamet, [part of 
Truro,] Nauset, [part of Eastham,] Cuuimaquid, [Barnstable north liarbor,] 
Namasket, [part of Middleborough,] with divers others, who dwell about tlie 
bays of Fatuxet and Massachusetts; and all this by friendly usage, love and 
peace, just and honest carriage, good counsel," &c. 

* Now commonly written Hobomok. This true friend to the English de- 
serves a lasting remembrance. He was attaclied to them from the beginning, 
and no threats or danger, or enticements could seduce him from his faithful- 
ness. They were often indebted for much of their advantage and safety to the 
sagacity of his observation and of his counsels. Ho served them in every way, 
as guide, companion, counsellor, and friend, unmoved by the ridicule and scorn 
of those whom he had abandoned, and unawed by the sworn hatred of the 
savage and wily Corbitant. His services were acknowledged by a grant of 
lands in the colony. Grentle and guileless in his temper, he was easily won by 
the pure and simple truths of religion, and, spite of all temptation, professed 
himself a Christian. We are not informed of the date of his death, but we are 
told in a work published in 1642, ("New England's First Fruits,") that "he 
died among.st them, (the English,) leaving some good hopes in their hearts that 
bis soul went to rest" Note to Davis' Morton, 212. 



WILLIAM BRADFORD. 59 

Having heard miicli of the Bay of Massachusetts, 
both from the Indians and the Enghsh fishermen, Gover- 
nor Bradford appointed ten men, with Squanto, and two 
other Indians, to visit the place and trade with the natives. 
On the 18th of September, they sailed in a shallop, 
and the next day got to the bottom of the bay, where 
they landed under a cliff,* and were kindly received by 
Obbatinnua, the sachem who had subscribed the submis- 
sion at Plymouth a few days before. He renewed his 
submission, and received a promise of assistance and de- 
fence against the squaw sachem of Massachusetts, and 
other of his enemies. 

The appearance of the bay was pleasing. They saw 
the mouths of two rivers which emptied into it. The 
islands were cleared of wood, and had been planted, but 
most of the people who had inhabited them, were either 
dead or had removed. Those who remained were con- 
tinually in fear of the Tarratines, who frequently came 
from the eastward in a hostile manner, and robbed them 
of their corn. In one of these predatory invasions, 
Nanepashamet, a sachem, had been slain ; his body lay 
buried under a frame, surrounded by an intrenchment 
and palisade. A monument on the top of a hill desig- 
nated the place where he was killed. f 

Having explored the bay, and collected some beaver, 
the shallop returned to Plymouth, and brought so good 
a report of the place, that the people wished they had 
been seated there. But, having planted corn and built 

* Supposed to bo Copp's Hill, in tlic town of Boston. 

i Sliattuck, in tlie History of Concord, says this " was in Modford, near 
Mystic Pond." Lewis, in his History of Lynn, says Nanepasliamct was killed 
about the year IGIO, and that his widow, (the Scjuaw Sacliem referred to by 
Obbatinnua,) continued the government. 



GO WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

huts at Ply mouth J and being there in security from the 
natives, they judged the motives for continuance to be 
stronger than for a removal. Most of their posterity have 
judged otherwise. 

In November, 1621, a ship arrived from England, 
with thirty-five passengers, to augm.ent the colony,* 
Unhappily they were so short of provisions, that the 
people of Plymouth were obliged to victual the ship 
home, and then put themselves and the new-comers 
upon half allowance. Before the next spring, ( 1 622, ) the 
colony began to feel the rigors of famine. The Indians 
had in some way become apprised of their situation, and 
in the height of their distress, the governor received 
from Canonicus, sachem of the Narragansetts, a threat- 
ening message, in the emblematic style of the ancient 
Scythians — a bundle of arrows, bound up with the skin 
of a serpent. The governor sent an answer, in the same 
style — the skin of the serpent, filled with powder and 
ball. The Narragansetts, afraid of its contents, sent it 
back unopened, and here the correspondence ended. 

It was now judged proper to fortify the town. Ac- 
cordingly, it was surrounded with a stockade and four 
flankarts; a guard was kept by day and by night, the 
company being divided for that purpose into four squad- 
rons. A select number were appointed, in case of acci- 
dental fire, to mount guard with their backs to the fire, 
so as to prevent a surprise from the Indians. Within 
the stockade was enclosed the top of the hill, under 
which the town was built, and a sufficiency of land for 
a garden assigned to each family. The works were 
begun in February, and finished in March. 

* This ship was the Fortune, of fifty-five tons. She arrived November 9th. 
Prince, 114. 



WILLIAM BRADFORD. Gl 

At this time, tho famine was beginning to be severe. 
Fish and spring-water were the only food upon which 
(lie people subsisted. The want- of bread reduced their 
flesh ; yet they had so much health and spirit, that, on 
hearing of the massacre in Virginia, they erected an 
additional fort on the top of the hill, with a flat roof, on 
which their guns were mounted ; the lower story being 
used as a place of worship. Such was the character of 
these times and of these men. The temple of the Lord 
was defended by cannon, and his worshippers were armed 
men.* Sixty acres of ground were this year planted with 
corn ; and their gardens were sown with the seeds of 
other esculent vegetables in great plenty. 

The arrival of two shipsf in midsummer, with a new 
colonists, sent out by Thomas Weston, but without provis- 
ions, was an additional misfortune. Some of these peo- 
ple, being sick, were lodged in the hospital at New Ply- 
mouth, until they were so far recovered as to join their 
companions, who seated themselves at Wessagusset, since 
called Weymouth. 

The first supply of provisions was obtained from the 
fishing vessels, of which thirty-five came this spring from 
England to the coast. In August, two ships, arrived 
with trading goods, which the planters bought at a great 
disadvantage, giving beaver in exchange. | The sum- 

* Baylies, i. 93. 

f The Charity, of one hundred tons, and the Swan, of thirty. The Cliarity, 
having gone on to Virginia, returned to Weymouth, and thence to England, 
about the end of September, IG'i^. The Swan remained at Weymouth, for the 
use of the colonists. Prince, 122. 

t The Sparrow, (Weston'n,) which had returned from a fishing voyage on 
the coast of Maine, and the Discovery, commanded by Jones, tlie former com- 
mander of the Mayflower. " Tliis ship," says Morton, (p. 3!*,) speaking of the 
latter, " had store of English beads (which were then good trade) and some 



62 WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

mer being dry, and the harvest short, it became necessary 
to make excursions among the natives to procure corn and 
beans, with the goods purchased from the ships. Captain 
Standish was to have commanded this expedition, but 
being driven back twice by violent winds, and falHng ill 
of a fever. Governor Bradford took the command himself, 
and after encountering some hazard from the shoals, he 
made for a harbour at a place called Mannamoyck, [Chat- 
ham,] and, after sounding through a narrow and intricate 
channel, anchored. The governor, attended by Squanto^ 
went on shore, but the natives were shy of intercourse 
for some time ; at length, understanding his intentions, 
they threw off their reserve, and welcomed him with 
much apparent joy, feasting him and his company on 
venison and other food, — yet so jealous were they, when 
they ascertained that the governor intended to remain 
on shore during the night, that they carefully removed 
their property from their habitations. Squanto having 
succeeded in persuading them that the intentions of the 
English were good, they were at length induced to sell 
them eight hogsheads of corn and beans. 

They intended to have proceeded farther down the 
Cape, being assured both by Squanto and the Indians of 
Mannamoyck that there was a safe passage, but their 
design was frustrated by the sudden sickness of Squanto, 
who was seized with a fever so violent, that it soon oc- 
casioned his death, to the great grief of the Governor. 
Although Squanto had discovered some traits of du- 

knives, but would sell none but at dear rates, and also a good quantity together ; 
yet they (the planters) were glad of the occasion, and fain to buy at any rate ; 
they were fain to give afler the rate of cent, per cent., if not more, and yet 
pay away coat beaver at three shillings per pound," " which, (says Prince,) a 
few years after, yields twenty shillings a pound." 



WILLIAM BRADFORD. 63 

plicityj yet his loss was justly deemed a public niislbr- 
tunc, as he had rendered the English much service. A 
short time previous to his death, he requested the gov- 
ernor to ^ pray that he might go to the Englishman's God 
in heaven/ and he bequeathed his litUe property to his 
English friends, as remembrances of his love. 

In these excursions, Mr. Bradford was treated by the 
natives with great respect, and the trade was conducted 
on both sides with justice and confidence. At Nauset, 
the shallop being stranded, it was necessary to put the 
corn which had been purchased in stack, and to leave it, 
covered w^ith mats and sedge, in the care of the Indians. 
This was in November, and it remained there until Janu- 
ary, when another shallop was sent round, and it was 
found in perfect safety, and the stranded shallop was 
recovered.* Governor Bradford, having procured a 
guide, when his shallop w^as stranded, with his party, re- 
turned home through the wilderness fifty miles on foot. 

At Namasket, [Middleborough,] an inland place, he 
bought another quantity, which was brought home, partly 
by the people of the colony, and partly by the Indian 
women, their men disdaining to bear burdens. 

At Manomet, [Sandwich,] he bargained for more, 
which he w^as obliged to leave till March, when Captain 
Standish went and fetched it home, the Indian women 
bringing it down to the shallop. The whole quantity 
thus purchased, amounted to twenty-eight hogsheads of 
corn and beans, of which Weston's people had a share, 
as they had joined in the purchase. 

In the spring of 1623, the governor received a mes- 
sage from Massasoit, that he was sick, on which occasion it 

* Winslow, in Purchas, iv. 1^58. 



64 WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

is usual for all the friends of the Indians to visit them, or 
send them presents. Mr. Winslow again went to visit the 
sachem, accompanied by Mr. John Hampden,* and they 
had Hobbamock for their guide and interpreter. The 
visit was very consolatory to their sick friend, and the 
more so as Winslow carried him some cordials, and made 
him broth after the English mode, which contributed to 
his recovery. In return for this friendly attention, 
Massasoit communicated to Hobbamock, intelligence of 
a dangerous conspiracy, then in agitation among the In- 
dians, in which he had been solicited to join. Its object 
was nothing less than the total extirpation of the English, 
and it was occasioned by the imprudent conduct of Wes- 
ton's people in the Bay of Massachusetts. The Indians 
had in contemplation to make them the first victims, and 
then to fall on the people of Plymouth. Massasoit's 
advice was, that the English should seize and put to 
death the chief conspirators, whom he named, and said 
that this would prevent the execution of the plot. Hob- 
bamock communicated this secret to Winslow, as they 
were returning home, and it was reported to the governor. 
On this alarming occasion, the whole company were 

* In Winslow's Journal, Mr. Hampden is said to be " a gentleman of Lon- 
don, who then wintered with us, and desired much to see the country." Bel- 
knap supposed this person to be the same who distinguished himself by his 
opposition to the illegal and arbitrary demands of King Charles the First; and 
refers to the tradition that Hampden and Cromwell attempted to embark for 
New England, in 1638. But the evidence seems to be conclusive, that the 
great English patriot never was in America. Bancroft (i. 412,) thus disposes 
of the question : " A person who bore the same or nearly the same name, was 
undoubtedly there ; but the greatest patriot-statesman of his times, the man 
whom Charles I. would gladly have seen drawn and quartered, whom Claren- 
don paints as possessing beyond all his contemporaries, "a head to conceive, a 
tongue to persuade, and a hand to execute," and whom the fervent Baxter re- 
vered as able, by his presence and conversation, to give a new charm to the 
rest of the Saints in heaven, was never in America; nor did he ever embark 
for America." 



WILLIAM BRADFORD. 65 

ussLMiibled in courts and the news was imparted to them. 
Such was their confidence in Governor Bradford^ that 
they unanimously requested him^, with Allerton, his as- 
sistant, to concert the best measures for their safety. The 
result waSj a determination to strengthen the fortificationSj 
to be vigilant at home, and to send such a force to the 
Bay of Massachusetts, under Captain Standish, as he 
should judge sufficient to crush the conspiracy. 

The people whom Weston had sent to plant his colony 
at Wessagussett, were so disorderly and imprudent, that 
the Indians were not only disgusted with them, but des- 
pised them, and intended to make them their first victims. 
One of the settlers came to Plymouth with a lamentable 
account of their weak condition. He accidentally lost 
his way on the journey, and thus escaped the tomahawk 
of an Indian, who followed him. The Indian pursued 
him to Plymouth, where, being suspected as a spy, he 
was conlined in irons. Standish, with eight chosen men, 
and the faithful Hobbamock, went in the shallop to Wes- 
ton's plantation, taking goods with him, as usual, to 
trade with the Indians. Here he met the persons who 
had been pointed out to him as the conspirators; who per- 
sonally insulted and threatened him. A quarrel ensued, 
in which seven of the Indians were killed. The others 
were so struck with terror, that they forsook their houses 
and retreated to the swamps, where many of them died 
with cold and hunger. The survivors would have sued 
for peace, but were afraid to go to Plymouth. Weston's 
people were so a})prehensive of the consequences of this 
affair, that they abandoned their plantation; and the peo- 
ple of Plymouth, who offered them protection, which 
they would not accept, were glad to be rid of such trou- 
9 



66 WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

blesome neighbors. Weston did not come in person to 
America, till after the dispersion of his people, some of 
whom he found among the eastern fishermen, and from 
them he first heard of the ruin of his enterprise. In a 
storm, he was cast away between the rivers Merrimack 
and Pascataqua, and was robbed by the natives of all he 
had saved from the wreck. Having borrowed a suit of 
clothes from some of the people at Pascataqua, he came to 
Plymouth, where, in consideration of his necessity, the 
government lent him two hundred weight of beaver, with 
which he sailed to the eastward, with such of his own 
people as were disposed to accompany him. It is ob- 
served, that he never repaid the debt but with enmity 
and reproach.* 

Thus, by the spirited conduct of a handful of brave 
men, in conformity to the advice of the friendly Mas- 
sasoit, a dangerous conspiracy was annihilated. But, 
when the report of this transaction was carried to their 
brethren in Holland, Mr. Robinson, in his next letter to 
the governor, lamented with great concern and tender- 
ness, " O that you had converted some, before you had 
killed any."t 

Much obloquy has been thrown on the character of 
the Pilgrims, for this attack upon the Indians. The ex- 
istence of the conspiracy is said to have been ideal, and 
it is confidently asserted in modern times, that the In- 
dians were disposed to friendship when they were as- 
sailed by Standish, and that the conspiracy was a mere 
pretence on the part of the English to rid themselves of 
troublesome neighbors, and to acquire their country ; but 
any one who examines the proofs with impartiality, will 

* Prince, 135. See note, on page 20. f Prince, 146. 



WILLIAM BRADFORD. 67 

be convinced of its existence, and that the colonists were 
actuated neither by interest nor revenge, but only endea- 
voured to secure their own safety by attacking those, who, 
when their projects were matured, would have destroyed 
them.* 

In the autumn of 1623, Captain Standish proceeded 
to the litde settlement, which had been commenced by 
David Thompson on the banks of the Pascataqua, where 
the settlers readily supplied him with such provisions as 
they could spare. 

The scarcity which the colonists had hitherto expe- 
rienced was partly owing to the increase of their num- 
bers, and the scantiness of their supplies from Europe ; 
but principally to their mode of laboring in common, 
and putting the fruits of their labor into the public store ; 
an error which had the same effect here as in Virginia. 

It will be remembered that the Fortune, which arrived 
from England, in November, 1621, brought thirty-five 
new settlers, and no supply of provisions. A thrilling 
narrative of the sufferings of the people at this period, 
may be gathered from Winslow and Bradford. '' They 
never had any supply to any purpose after this time, 
but what the Lord helped them to raise by their own 
industry among themselves ; for all that came afterward 
was too short for the passengers that came with ' it."f 
*^ About the end of May, (1622,) our store of victuals 
was wholly spent, having lived long before with a bare 
and short allowance ; and, indeed, had we not been in 
a place where divers sorts of shellfish are, that may 
be taken with the hand, we must have perished, unless 
God had raised up some unknown or extraordinary 

* Baylies, i. 106. f Morton, 35. 



68 WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

means for our preservation."* Winslow was sent to 
the fishing vessels at Monhiggon, on the coast of Maine, 
to seek supplies^ and procure enough to give each per- 
son a quarter of a pound of bread a day till the har- 
vest. They had planted this year nearly sixty acres of 
corn, but the harvest proved a scanty year's supply for 
the colony, " partly by reason they were not yet well 
acquainted with the manner of the husbandry of Indian 
corn .... but chiefly their weakness for want of food."f 
In 1623, Governor Bradford says, J ^^ By the time our 
corn is planted, our victuals are spent ; not knowing at 
night where to have a bit in the morning, and have neither 
bread nor corn for three or four months together, yet bear 
our wants with cheerfulness, and rest on Providence." 
Brewster, the ruling elder, lived for many months to- 
gether without bread, and frequently on fish alone. 
With nothing but oysters and clams before him, he, with 
his family, would give thanks that they could " suck of 
the abundance of the seas, and of the treasures hidden 
in the sands." It is said that they were once reduced 
to a pint of corn, which being equally divided, gave to 
each a proportion of five kernels, which was parched 
and eaten. § 

To remedy as far as possible the evils of scarcity, though 
it might not be in exact accordance with their engage- 

* Winslow's Relation, I Mass. Hist. Coll., viii. 245, 246. 

t Morton, 39. t Prince, 135. 

§ At the centennial feast, Dec. 22, 1820, much of the beauty, fashion, wealth, 
and talent of Massachusetts had congregated at Plymouth. Orators spoke, and 
poets sang, the praises of their pilgrim fathers. The richest viands gratified 
the most fastidious epicure to satiety. Beside each plate, five grains of parched 
corn were placed, a simple but interesting and affecting memorial of the dis- 
tresses of those heroic and pious men who won this fair land of plenty, freedom 
and happiness, and yet, at times, were literally in want of a morsel of bread. 
Baylies, i. 121. 



WILLIAM BRADFORD. 69 

mcnls,*" it was aajrecd , in (ho spring of 1623, that every 
fkmily should i)l;int lor themselves, on such ground as 
should be assigned to them by lot, without any division 
for inheritance ;t and that, in time of harvest, a competent 
portion should be brought into the common store, for the 
maintenance of the public olFicers, fishermen, and such 
other persons as could not be employed in agriculture. 
This regulation at once gave a spring to industry ; the 
women and children cheerfully went to work with the 
men in the fields, and much more corn was planted 
than ever before. Having but one boat, the men were 
divided into parties of six or seven, who took their turns 
to catch fish; the shore afforded them shellfish, and 
groundnuts served them for bread. Whenever a deer was 
killed, the flesh was divided among the whole colony. 
Water-fowl came in plenty, at the proper season, but the 
want of boats prevented them from being taken in great 
numbers. Thus they subsisted through the third sum- 
mer, in the latter end of which two vessels arrived with 
sixty more passengers. | But the harvest was plentiful, 
and, after this time, the people had no general want of 
food, because they had learned to depend on their own 
exertions, rather than on foreign supplies. 

The combination which they had made before their 
landing at Cape Cod, was the first foundation of their 
government; but as they were driven to this expedient 
by necessity, it was intended to subsist no longer than 

* By their agreement with the adventurers in England, they were compelled 
to put the produce of tlieir labors into a common stock. See page 17, ante. 

t Prince, 133. Purchas, iv. 1866. 

t "The best dish we could present them with, is a lobster or piece of fish, 
without bread or anything else but a cup of fair spring water." Bradford, in 
Prince, 140. 



70 WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

until they could obtain legal authority from their sove- 
reign. As soon as they knew of the establishment of the 
Council of New England/ they applied for a patent, 
which was taken in the names of John Pierce and others, 
in trust for the colony.f When Pierce saw that the 
colonists were well seated, and that there was a prospect 
of success to their undertaking, he went, without their 
knowledge, but in their names, and solicited the Council 
for another patent of greater extent, intending to keep 
it to himself, and to allow them no more than he pleased, 
holding them as his tenants, to sue and be sued at his 
courts. In pursuance of this design, having obtained 
the patent, he bought a ship, which he named the Para- 
gon, loaded her with goods, took on board upwards of 
sixty passengers, and sailed from London for the colony 
of New Plymouth. In the Downs, he was overtaken by 
a tempest, which so damaged the ship, that he was obliged 
to put her into dock, where she lay seven weeks, and her 
repairs cost him one hundred pounds. In December, 

* Established by James the First, November 3, 1620, while the Pilgrims 
were on their passage ; and styled " The Council established at Plymouth, in 
the county of Devon, for the planting, ordering, and governing of New England 
in America." Hazard, i. 103 — 118. 

t This patent, which Judge Davis supposes to have been sent over in the 
Fortune, in November, 1621, was some years since found among the old papers 
in the Land Office at Boston. It is dated 1st June, 1621, and bears the seals 
and signatures of the Duke of Lenox, the Marquis of Hamilton, the Earl of 
Warwick, and of Sir Ferdinando Gorges. There is another signature so ob- 
scurely written as to be illegible. It gave to the patentee and his associates 
one hundred acres of land each, and one hundred for each person settled in the 
proposed colony, to be taken in any place not inhabited by the English, and 
subject to a rent to the council of two shillings for every hundred acres; a free 
fishery also was given, freedom of trade with England and the Indians, and 
authority to defend them by force of arms against all intruders. It does not 
appear what use was made of this patent by the Plymouth planters; it was not 
long afterwards superseded by the second patent surreptitiously obtained by 
Pierce, Davis' Morton, 73, 363. 



WILLIAM BRADFORD. 71 

1622j he sailed a second timej having on board one hun- 
dred and nine persons; but a series of tempestuous 
weather, which continued fourteen days, disabled his 
ship, and forced him back to Portsmouth. These re- 
peated disappointments proved so discouraging to Pierce, 
that he was easily prevailed upon by the company of 
adventurers to assign his patent to them for five hundred 
pounds. The passengers came over in other ships. Of 
Pierce, little is known, other than that he was one whose 
avarice and ambition made him false to others. An 
overruling Providence, however, which sooner or later 
stamps disaster upon every scheme of iniquity, over- 
whelmed this adventurer in calamities. 

For several years after this time, the settlers at New 
Plymouth were subjected to new difficulties, which 
threatened the overthrow of the colony. The company 
in England with which they were connected, did not 
supply them in plenty. Losses had been sustained at 
sea; the returns were not adequate to their expectations ; 
they became discouraged, threw many reflections on the 
planters, and finally refused them any farther supplies ;* 
but still demanded the debt due from them, and would 
not permit them to connect themselves in trade with any 
other persons. The planters complained to the Council 
of New England, but they could obtain no redress. In 
1626, they sent Isaac Allerton to England, Governor 
Bradford and others of the principal men executing to 
him a power of attorney, to bind them in any contract 
he might deem it proper to make with the adventurers, 
on their behalf. He succeeded in obtaining an agree- 
ment from the forty-two share-holders in England, to 

* Bradford's Letter Book, I Mass. Hist. Coll., iii. 29, 36, 60. 



72 WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

relinquish all their rights in the colony for the sum of 
.£1800 sterling. For the payment of this sum, eight of 
the principal persons in the colony, with four of their 
friends in London, became bound in the following year.* 
To indemnify them against pecuniary loss, the settlers in 

1628, executed to the undertakers, a release of the entire 
trade of the colony for six years. " We thought it our 
safest and best course, (says Governor Bradford,) to come 
to some agreement with the people, to have the whole 
trade consigned to us for some years, and so in that time 
to take upon us to pay all the debts and set them free.^f 

These men were obliged to take up money at an ex- 
orbitant interest, and to go deeply into trade at Kennebeck, 
Penobscot, and Connecticut; by which means, and their 
own great industry and economy, they were in due time 
enabled to discharge the debt, and pay for the transpor- 
tation of thirty -five families of their friends from Leyden, 
who arrived in 1629. J 

In 1629, another patent, of larger extent than that 
which had been issued to Pierce in behalf of the colony, 
was solicited by Isaac Allerton, and taken out in the 
name of " William Bradford, his heirs, associates, and 
assigns. "§ This patent confirmed their title (as far as 

* The names of the undertakers were William Bradford, Miles Standish, 
Isaac Allerton, Edward Winslow, William Brewster, John Howland, John 
Alden, and Thomas Prence, of JVcw Plymouth, and James Shirley, John Beau- 
champ, Richard Andrews, and Timothy Hatherly, of London. 

] Bradford's Letter Book, in I Mass. Hist. Coll., iii. 59. 

t These thirty-five families, says Governor Bradford, " we were fain to keep 
eighteen months at our charge, ere they could reap any harvest to live upon; 
all which together fell heavy upon us." I Mass. Hist. Coll., iii. 58, 74. 

§ Hazard, i. 298—303. Prince, 196. This patent was dated January 13th, 

1629. Besides confirming their title to their lands, this charter conferred on 
them liberty to fish, to trade with the natives, to make laws not contrary to 
those of England, and to " seize and make prize of all who attempt to inhabit 



WILLIAM BRADFORD. 73 

the crown of England coultl confirm it) to a tract of 
land bounded on the cast and south by the Atlantic 
Ocean, and by lines drawn west from the Rivulet of 
Conohasset, and north from the River of Narragansett, 
which lines meet in a point, comprehending all the 
country called Pokanoket. To this tract they supposed 
they had a prior title, from the depopulation of a great 
part of it by a pestilence, from the gift of Massasoit, his 
voluntary subjection to the crown of England, and his 
having taken protection of them. In a declaration, 
published by them in 1636, they asserted their ^^awful 
right in respect of vacancy, donation, and purchase of 
the natives,"* which together with their patent from the 
crown, through the Council of New England, formed 
" the warrantable ground and foundation of their gov- 
ernment, of making laws and disposing of lands. "f 

In the same patent, was granted a large tract border- 
ing on the River Kennebeck, where they had carried on 

or trade with the natives within the limits of their plantation, or attempt their 
detriment or annoyance." The original patent, signed by the Earl of War- 
wick, as President of the Council, is preserved in the office of the Recorder at 
Plymouth. It is written upon parchment, and has appended the Seal of the 
Plymouth Company. 

* Hazard, i. 404. 

t In 1639, after the termination of tiio Poquot war, Massasoit, who iiad then 
changed his name to Woosamequen, brought his son Mooanam to Plymouth, 
and desired that the league which he had formerly made might be renewed and 
made inviolable. The saclicm and his son voluntarily promised, "for them- 
selves, and their successors, that they would not needlessly' nor unjustly raise 
any quarrels or do any wrong to other natives to provoke them to war against 
the colony ; and that they would not give, sell, or convey any of their lands, 
territories, or possessions whatever, to any person or persons whomsoever, 
without the privity or consent of the government of Plymouth, other than to 
such as the said government should send or appoint. The whole court did 
then ratify and confirm the aforesaid league, and promise to the said Woosame- 
quen, his son and successors, that they would defend them against all such as 
should unjustly rise up against them, to wrong or oppress them." Morton, 
112, 113. 

10 



74 WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

a traffic with the natives for furs, as they did also at Con- 
necticut River, which was not equally beneficial, be- 
cause they there had the Dutch for rivals.* The fur 
trade was found to be much more advantageous than the 
fishery. Sometimes they exchanged corn of their own 
growth for furs; but European coarse cloths, hardware, 
and ornaments, were good articles of trade, when they 
could command them. 

The patent had been taken in the name of Mr. Brad- 
ford, in trust for the colony ; and the event proved that 
their confidence was not misplaced. When the num- 
ber of people was increased, and new townships were 
erected, the General Court, in 1640, requested that he 
would surrender the patent into their hands. To this 
he readily consented ; and, by a written instrument, under 
his hand and seal, surrendered it to them, reserving for 
himself no more than his proportion, by previous agree- 
ment. This was done in open court, on the 2d March, 
1640, and the patent was immediately replaced in his 
hands for safe keeping.f 

While they were few in number, the whole body of 
associates or freemen assembled together for legislative, 
executive, and judicial business. In 1634, the governor 

* The patent gave to the colonists at Plymouth, a tract of fifteen miles on 
each side of the Kennebeck. About the same time Mr. Shirley and others took 
out a patent for lands on the Penobscot, and sent out Edward Ashley, one of 
their number, to superintend their operations there. In this enterprise, those 
of Plymouth were induced, though reluctantly, to join, and a trading house 
was built. I Mass. Hist. Coll., iii. 70—74. Winthrop, i. 166. This establish- 
ment was soon after taken by the French, who retained it, in spite of all efforts 
to dislodge them, till 1654. The trade to the Kennebeck seems to have been 
quite profitable. "Our neighbors of Plymouth," says Governor Winthrop, 
(Journal, i. 138,) " had great trade this year (1634) at Kennebeck, so as Mr. 
Winslow carried with him to England about twenty hogsheads of beaver." 

t Hazard, i. 468. 



. WILLIAM BRADFORD. 75 

and assistants were constituted a Judicial Court, and after- 
wards the Supreme Judiciary of the Colony.* Petty 
offences, and actions of debt, trespass, and damage, not 
exceeding forty shillings, were tried by the selectmen of 
each town, with liberty of appeal to the next Court of 
Assistants. The first Assembly of Representatives was 
held in 1639, when four deputies were sent from Ply- 
mouth, and two from each of the other towns. 

In 1649, Plymouth was restricted to the same num- 
ber with the other towns. These deputies were chosen 
by the freemen ; and none were admitted to the privilege 
of freemen but such as were twenty-one years of age, of 
sober and peaceable conversation, orthodox in the fun- 
damentals of religion, and possessed of twenty pounds 
rateable estate. 

By the former patent, the colony of Plymouth was 
empowered " to enact such laws as should most befit a 
state in its nonage, not rejecting or omitting to observe 
such of the laws of their native country as would conduce 
to their good."f In the second patent, the power of 
government was granted to William Bradford and his 
associates in the following terms. J " To frame and make 
orders, ordinances, and constitutions, as well for the 
better government of their affairs here [in England,] and 
the receiving or admitting any to his or their society, as 
also for the better government of his or their people at 
sea, in going thither or returning from thence ; and the 
same to be put in execution by such officers and minis- 
ters as he or they shall authorize and depute ; provided 
that the said laws be not repugnant to the laws of Eng- 

* Plj) mouth Laws, t Preface to Plymouth Laws, by Secretary Morton. 
t Hazard, i. 302. 



76 WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

landj or the frame of government by the said president 
and council liereafter to be established." 

From the first planting of the colonies^ a general gov- 
ernment over the whole territory of New-England, had 
been a favourite object with the council which granted 
these several patents ; but, after several attempts, it finally 
miscarried, to the no small joy of the planters, who were 
then at liberty to govern themselves.* 

In June, 1635, the Council of Plymouth surrendered 
the Great Charter of New England to King Charles. 
The cry of monopoly had been raised in parliament 
against the council, and the high church party inflamed the 
growing prejudice, because the council had encouraged 
the settlement of those who had fled from persecution. 
This event created great apprehension in the colony, and 
we accordingly find, soon afterwards, that the people of 
New Plymouth met in a body, and drew up a Declara- 
tion of Rights, styled " The General Fundamentals," 
which was adopted on the 15th November, 1636. This 
Declaration was accompanied by a statement drawn up 
with signal ability, entitled " The Warrantable Grounds 

* The first essay for tlie establishment of a general government was in 1623, 
when a ship commanded by Captain Francis West came to New Plymouth. 
West " had a commission to be Admiral of New England, to restrain interlopers, 
and such fishing ships as came to fish and trade without license"; but, finding 
the fishermen "stubborn fellows," he sailed away to Virginia. Prince, 137. 
These "stubborn fellows" complained to Parliament of this attempt to extort 
money from them, and finally procured an order that fishing should be free. 
Morton, 47. In September, 1623, a second attempt was made to establish a 
government over all the New England settlements. Capt. Robert Gorges, son 
of Sir Ferdinando, arrived with a commission to be " Governor-general of the 
country." Admiral West, Christopher Levit, and others, were of his Council. 
But, "finding the state of things not to answer to his quality and condition," 
he abandoned the enterprise, and early in 1624, returned to England. Morton, 
52. Baylies, i. 125. Sir F. Gorges was appointed in 1637, governor-general 
of New England, but never entered upon the government. See Life of Gorges, 
in Belknap'8 Biog. 



WILLIAM BRADFORD. 77 

aiul Proceedings of the first Associates of New Plymouth, 
ill their laying the first Foundation of this Govern- 
ment," which prefaces the printed Laws. 

In the formation of the laws of New Plymouth, 
regard was had, ^' primarily and principally, to the ancient 
platform of God's law." For, though some parts of that 
system were peculiar to the circumstances of the sons 
of Jacob, yet, " the whole being grounded on principles 
of moral equity," it was the opinion of the first planters, 
not at Plymouth only, but in Massachusetts, New Haven, 
and Connecticut, that ^^ all men, especially Christians, 
ought to have an eye to it in the framing of their politi- 
cal constitutions."* A secondary regard was had to the 
liberties granted to them by their sovereign, and the laws 
of England, which they supposed " any impartial person 
might discern, in the perusal of the book of the laws of 
the colony." 

At first they had some doubt concerning their right 
to inflict capital punishment. A murder which happened 
in 1630, made it necessary to decide this question. It 
was decided by the divine law against shedding human 
blood, which was deemed indispensable. In 1636, their 
Code of Laws was revised, and capital crimes were enu- 
merated and defined. In 1671, it was again revised, 
and the next year printed, with this title : " The Book 
of the General Laws of the Inhabitants of the Jurisdiction 
of New Plymouth ;" a title very similar to the codes of 
Massachusetts and Connecticut, which were printed at 
the same time, by Samuel Green, at Cambridge. 

The piety, wisdom, and integrity of Mr. Bradford 
were such prominent features in his character, that he 

* Preface to Plymouth Laws. 



78 WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

was annually chosen governor as long as he lived^ except 
during three years, when Mr. Winslow, and two years, 
when Mr. Prence, was chosen to that office ; and even 
then Mr. Bradford was appointed the first or senior as- 
sistant, which gave him the rank of deputy-governor. 

In the year 1624, the number of assistants was in- 
creased to five, and in 1633 to seven, the governor having 
a double vote. These augmentations were made at the 
earnest request of Governor Bradford, who also earnestly 
recommended a more frequent rotation in the office of 
governor. He repeatedly sought to be relieved from the 
office, but could obtain a release for no more than five in 
a period of thirty-five years, and never for more than two 
years in succession. His argument was, ^* that if it were 
any honor or benefit, others beside himself should par- 
take of it; if it were a burden, others beside himself 
should help to bear it."* Notwithstanding the reasona- 
bleness and equity of his plea, the people had such a 
strong attachment to him, and confidence in him, that 
they could not be persuaded to leave him out of the 
government. 

For the last twelve years of his fife, Mr. Bradford 
was annually chosen without interruption, and served in 
the office of governor. His health continued good until 
the autumn of the year 1656, when it began to decline, 
and as the next spring advanced, he became weaker, but 
felt not any acute illness until the beginning of May. 

On the 8th of that month, after great suffering at its 
close, he became so elevated with the idea of futurity, that 

* Morton, p. 53. In 1632, a law was passed, imposing a penalty of £20, on 
any person who should refuse the office of governor, unless chosen two years 
in succession, and £10 upon any person who refused to serve as a magistrate 
or counsellor. 



WILLIAM BRADFORD. 79 

he exclaimed to his friends, in the following morning, 
" God has given me a pledge of my happiness in another 
world, and the first fruits of eternal glory !" The next 
day, being the ninth of May, 1657, he was removed from 
this world by death, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, to 
the great loss and grief of the people, not only of Ply- 
mouth, but the neighboring colonies, four of which he 
lived to see established, beside that of which he was one 
of the principal founders.* 

In addition to what has been said of Governor Brad- 
ford's character, it may be observed that he was emi- 
nently a practical man, of a strong mind, a sound judg- 
ment, and a good memory. Though not favoured with 
a liberal education, he was much inclined to study and 
investigation. The French and Dutch languages were 
familiar to him, and he obtained a considerable knowledge 
of the Latin and Greek ; but he more assiduously studied 
the Hebrew, " because," he said, ^^ he would see with his 
own eyes the ancient oracles of God in their native 
beauty."! 

He had read much of history and philosophy, but 
theology was his favorite study. He was able to man- 
age the polemic part of it with much dexterity, and was 
particularly vigilant against the sectaries which infested 
the colonies, though by no means severe or intolerant, as 
long as they continued peaceable; wishing rather to foil 
them by argument, and guard the people against receiv- 
ing their tenets, than to suppress them by violence, or cut 
them off by the sword of the magistracy. Mr. Hub- 

* These four colonica were Masaachusetts, Connecticut, New Haven and 
Rhode Island. 

t Mather's Magoalia, b. ii. c. 1. 



80 WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

bard's character of him is, that he was '^ a person of 
great gravity and prudence, of sober principles, and, for 
one of that persuasion, (Brownists,) very phable, gentle, 
and condescending." 

Governor Bradford wrote ^^ A History of Plymouth 
People and Colony," beginning with the first formation 
of the church in 1602, and ending in 1646. It was con- 
tained in a folio volume of 270 pages. Morton's Me- 
morial is an abridgment of it. Prince and Hutchinson 
had the use of it, and the manuscript was carefully de- 
posited, with Mr. Prince's valuable Collection of Papers,, 
in the library of the Old South Church in Boston, which 
fell a sacrifice to the fury of the British army in the year 
1775.* He also had a large book of copies of letters 
relative to the affairs of the colony, a fragment of which 
was, a few years ago, recovered by accident, f and pub- 
lished by the Historical Society of Massachusetts.J To 
this fragment is subjoined another, being a ^^ Descriptive 
and Historical Account of New England," written in 
verse, which, if it be not graced with the charms of 
poetry, yet is a just and affecting narrative, intermixed 
with pious and useful reflections. 

* " The most important part of this lost History, I have had the good for- 
tune to recover. On a visit to Plymouth a few years since, I found in the Re- 
cords of the First Church, a narrative, in the handwriting of Secretary Morton, 
which, on comparing it with the large extracts in Hutchinson and Prince, I 
recognized as the identical History of Governor Bradford ; a fact put beyond 
all doubt by a marginal note of Morton, in which he says " This was originally 
penned by Mr. William Bradford^ governor of Neio Plymouth." This fact of 
the real authorship of the document seems to have escaped the observation of 
all who had preceded me in examining the records." Rev. A. Young, Pref. 
to Chronicles of the Pilgrims, published in 1841. 

t This Letter Book was accidentally seen in a grocer's shop at Halifax, Nova 
Scotia, by James Clark, Esq., a corresponding member of the Massachusetts 
Historical Society, and by him transmitted to Boston. 

U Mass. Hist. Coll., iii. 27— 76. 



WILLIAM BRADFORD. 81 

In Morton's Memorial^ 144, are preserved " Certain 
Verses, left by Governor Bradford, declaring the gracious 
dispensation of God's Providence towards him in the 
time of his Life, and his preparation and fittcdness for 
Death." They may be of interest to the curious in such 
matters : 

" From my yeurs young in dayes of Youth, 
God did maiic known to nic liis Truth, 
And call'd me from my Native place 
For to enjoy tlie Means of Grace. 
In Wilderness he did me guide, 
And in strange Lands for me provide. 
In Fears and Wants, through Weal and Woe, 
As Pilgrim pass'd I to and fro ; 
Oft left of them whom I did trust — 
How vain it is to rest on Dust ! 
A Man of Sorrows I have been. 
And many Changes I have seen. 
Wars, Wants, Peace, Plenty, have I known ; 
And some advanc'd, others thrown down. 
The humble, poor, cheerful, and glad. 
Rich, discontent, sower and sad : 
When Fears with Sorrows have been mixt. 
Consolations came betwixt. 
Faint not, poor Soul, in God still trust, 
Fear not the things thou suffer must} 
For whom he loves, he doth chastise. 
And then all Tears wipes from tlieir eyes. 
Farewell, dear Children, whom I love. 
Your better Father is above : 
When I am gone, he can supply ; 
To him I leave you when I dye. 
Fear him in Truth, walk in his Wayes, 
And he will bless you all your dayes. 
My days are spent, Old Age is come. 
My Strength it fails, my Glass near run ; 
Now I will wait, when work is done, 
Until my happy Change shall come, 
Wlien from my labors I shall rest 
Witli Clirist above, for to be blest." 

Of a like strain are the lines referred to in the follow- 
ing extract from Gov. Bradford's will : "I commend unto 
your wisdom and discretion, some small bookes written by 
11 



82 WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

my own hand, to be improved as you shall see meet. In 
special, I commend to you a httle booke with a blacke 
cover, wherein there is A Word to Plymouth, A Word 
to Boston, and a Word to New England, with sundry 
useful verses."* 

Besides these, he wrote, as Dr. Mather says, "some 
significant things, for the confutation of the errors of 
the time, by which it appears that he was a person of a 
good temper, and free from that rigid spirit of separation 
which broke the Separatists to pieces." 

Young, in his Chronicles of the Pilgrims, supposes 
that the invaluable historical work, usually cited as 
Mourt's Relation, printed in 1622, and containing a mi- 
nute diary of events from the arrival of the Mayflower 
at Cape Cod, Nov. 9, 1620, to the return of the Fortune, 
Dec. 11, 1621 — was in fact the production of Bradford 
and Winslow, chiefly of the former. Young has also 
published in his Chronicles, copied from the Plymouth 
Church Records, into which it was transcribed by Secre- 
tary Morton, "A Dialogue, or the Sum of a Conference 
between some Young Men, born in New England, and 
sundry Ancient Men, that came out of Holland and Old 
England, anno domini, 1648." It is an interesting docu- 
ment, and is probably one of those ^^ significant" papers 
above referred to by Cotton Mather. f 

In his executive office, Governor Bradford was pru- 
dent, temperate, and firm. He would suffer no person 
to trample on the laws, or disturb the peace. During 
his administration, there were frequent accessions of 

* These verses, published from the original MS., may be found in III Mass. 
Hist. Coll., vii. 37. 

t See Young's Chronicles of the Pilgrims, 7, 113,, 115^409. 



WILLIAM BRADFORD. 83 

new inhabitants^ some of whom were at first refractory, 
but his wisdom and fortitude obhged them to pay a 
decent respect to the laws and customs of the country. 
One particular instance is mentioned. A company of 
young men, newly arrivedj were very unwilling to comply 
with the governor's order for working on the public 
account. On a Christmas day, they excused themselves 
under the pretence, " that it was against their consciences 
to work." The governor gave them no other answer_, 
than that he would let them alone till they should be 
better informed. In the course of the day, he found 
them at play in the street, and, commanding the instru- 
ments of their game to be taken from them, he told them 
that it was against his conscience to suffer them to play, 
while others were at work, and that, if they had any 
religious regard for the day, they should show it in the 
exercise of devotion at home. This gentle reproof had 
the desired effect, and prevented the necessity of a repe- 
tition. 

The first offence punished in the colony, was that of 
John Billington, who was charged with contempt of the 
captain's lawful commands, while on board the Mayflower. 
He was tried by the whole company, and was sentenced 
to have his neck and heels tied together; but on hum- 
bling himself, and craving pardon, he was released. 
This same Billington, however, in 1630, waylaid and 
murdered one John Newcomen, for some affront, and 
was tried and executed in October of that year. Gover- 
nor Bradford says — " We took all due means about his 
trial; he was found guilty, both by grand and petit jury; 
and we took advice of Mr. Winthrop and others, the 
ablest gentlemen in the Massachusetts Bay, who all con- 



84 



WILLIAM BRADFORD. 



curred with us, that he ought to die, and the land be 
purged from blood."* 

* A prior execution for felony, took place at Wessagusset, (Weymouth,) in 
1622. This rival settlement, which was commenced at that place under the 
auspices of Thomas Weston, a London merchant, was composed in part of out- 
casts and profligates, who being soon reduced to a state of starvation, com- 
menced thieving among the Indians. The natives complained to the governor 
of Plymouth, and at length became so exasperated by repeated outratres, that 
the authorities were obliged to interfere in earnest, to appease the Indians ; and 
one of the most notorious offenders was arrested and hung. A waggish report 
became current soon after, that the real offender was spared, and that a poor 
decrcpid old man, who could no longer be of service to the colony, was hung 
in his stead ! "Upon this story," says Hubbard, "the merry gentleman that 
wrote the poem called Hudibras, did, in his poetical fancy, make so much 
sport." 



'Though nice and dark the point appear, 
(Quoth Ralph,) it may hold up, and clear. 
That Sinners may supply tlie place 
Of suffering Saints, is a plain Case. 
Justice gives Sentence, many times, 
On one Man for another's crimes. 
Our Brethren of New-England use 
Choice Malefiictors to excuse, 
And kaniT tlie Guiltless in their stead, 
Of whom the Churches have loss need : 
As lately 't happened : In a town 
There lived a Cobbler, and hut one, 
That out of Doctrine could cut, Use, 
And mend Men's Li^JCs, as well as Shoes. 
Tliis precious Brother having slain 
In time of Peace, an Indian, 
(Not out of Malice, but more Zeal, 



Because he was an infidel,) 
The mighty Tottipottijmoy 
Sent to our Elders an Envoy, 
Complaining sorely of the Broach 
Of League, held forth by brother Patch, 
Against the Articles in force. 
Between both cliurches, his and ours; 
For which ho craved the Saints to render 
Into liis Hands, or hang th' Offender : 
But they, maturely having weigh'd, 
Tliey had no more but him o' th' trade j 
(A Man that served them in a double 
Capacity, to Teach and Cobble,) 
Resolv'd to spare him; yet to do 
The Indian Ho<rhan Moghan, too. 
Impartial Justice, in his stead, did 
Hang an Old Weaver that was bedrid." 

Vide Hudibras, Part II., canto 2. 



The story is here most ridiculously caricatured, as a slur upon the churches of 
New England. Neal says, " tliat he [Weston] obtained a patent under pretence 
of propagating the discipline of the Church of England in America." Hist. N. E., 
ch. iii. p. 102. But it does not appear that the people of Weston's plantation 
had any church at all ; they were a set of needy adventurers, intent only on 
gaining a subsistence. 

Hubbard seriously undertakes to contradict the story, and yet does so with 
a qualification, that would not have deprived the poet of an illusion so conge- 
nial to his purpose ; for he admits that " it is possible, that justice might be 
executed, not on him that most deserved it, but on him that could best be spared, 
or who was not likely to live long, if he had been let alone." Davis' Morton. 
This story was first put in circulation by Thomas Morton, author of the " New 
English Canaan ;" but he mentions the fact only as a proposal, which was not 
agreed to, and adds, that the guilty man, in fiict, was the one who was finally 
executed. See New English Canaan, p. 74, in Force's Historical Tracts, vol. 3. 



AVILLIAM BRADFORD. 85 

The first duel and second offence that took place in 
the colony, was between two servants of Stephen Hop- 
kins. They fonght with sword and dagger, and were 
both slightly wounded. — They were arraigned for the of- 
fence, on the 18th June, 1621, before the governor and 
company for trial, and were sentenced to have their heads 
and feet tied together, and to remain in that position for 
twenty-four hours. After an hour's endurance of this 
novel punishment, these men of valour begged for a re- 
lease, and the governor set them at liberty. 

His conduct towards intruders and false friends was 
equally moderate, but firm and decisive. John Lyford 
had imposed himself upon the colony as a minister of 
the gospel, having been recommended by some of the 
adventurers in England. At first his behaviour was plau- 
sible, and he was treated with respect; but it was not 
long before he began, in concert with John Oldham, to 
organize a faction. Governor Bradford's suspicions of 
these men were first aroused by the marked servility of 
their conduct. He had admitted them to the councils of 
the colony, and treated them with high consideration, 
while they were plotting mischief, and concocting false- 
hoods against the government. Governor Bradford, nar- 
rowly watching their proceedings, at the very moment 
when they had got their letters on board a vessel just 
ready to sail, and, as they supposed, had successfully ar- 
ranged the scheme which was to place them at the head 
of affliirs in the colony — took the decisive step which 
exposed their perfidy. He followed the ship to sea in a 
boat, and by favor of the master, who was a friend of 
the colony, he intercepted their letters, and, on opening, 
found them filled with the most base and calumnious 



86 WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

charges against both church and state in the new colony. 
These men, unaware of the secret in possession of the 
governor, soon began to put on new airs. Lyford, in 
open defiance of the authorities, set up a separate meet- 
ing on the Sabbath, and undertook to administer the 
sacrament. Oldham became obstreperous — derided the 
existing magistrates — and when summoned to take his 
turn at the customary mihtary watch, he insolently re- 
fused compliance, and, getting into some dispute with 
Capt. Standish, drew his knife upon him. For this 
outrage, Oldham was immediately seized and placed in 
confinement. 

Governor Bradford now summoned a court of the 
whole body of freemen, to consider the conduct of these 
offenders. He charged Lyford and Oldham with plot- 
ting the overthrow of the colony, and with having sent 
home the most cruel and unmanly accusations against 
rulers and people. They boldly denied the charge, and 
demanded the proof. Governor Bradford then rose and 
addressed them, before the assembly, on the origin and 
objects of the pilgrims in coming to the New World — 
adverting with emphasis and feeling to the perfidy of 
those, who, having since arrived and shared the hospital- 
ity and privileges of the little community, were now en- 
gaged in plotting their destruction. Lyford persisted in 
denying the charge. On this, the governor, who could 
refrain no longer, produced the letters, which established 
the overwhelming truth of the accusations he had made 
The offenders were forthwith tried, convicted, made a 
full confession of their misconduct, and were expelled 
the plantation. After much importunity, Lyford was 
allowed six months for probation; but his pretences 



WILLIAM BRADFORD. 87 

proved hypocritical^ and he was ultimately obliged to de- 
part. After several removals^ he died in Virginia.* 

Oldham having returned after banishment^ his second 
expulsion was conducted in this singular manner : " A 
guard of musketeers was appointed^ through which he 
was obliged to pass ; every one was ordered to give him 
a blow on the hinder parts with the butt end of his mus- 
ket; then he was conveyed to the water side, where a boat 
was ready to carry him away, with this farewell, Go, and 
mend your manners.'''' This discipline had a good effect 
on him ; he made his submission, and was afterwards 
freely allowed to come and go on trading voyages. f 

* This man came to New England in 1G24. Bradford says he was " sent by 
a faction of the adventurers to hinder Mr. Robinson." Prince, 148. Mr. 
Cushman, in a letter dated at London, January 24th, speaks of him as "a 
preacher, though not the most eminent, for whose going Mr. Winslow and I 
gave way, to give content to some at London." Complaint having been made 
in England of the proceedings against Lyford, Mr. Winslow made such dis- 
closures of his conduct while in Ireland, " for which he had been forced to 
leave that kingdom, as struck all his friends mute." Prince, 153. He was 
finally condemned by the adventurers as unfit for the ministry. He went from 
Plymouth to Nantasket, thence to Cape Ann, and afterwards to Virginia, where 
he died. 

f Morton, 59. It cannot be doubted that the faults of Oldham were some- 
what exaggerated. The accounts given by Bradford and others, shew that he 
had rendered himself very obnoxious. He is represented to have been a man 
of enterprise and courage, but of an ungovernable temper. Savage, in a note 
to Winthrop, i. 80, says he was probably " less disposed to overlook this world, 
in his regard for the next, than most of his neighbors." He went to Nantas- 
ket, where he remained until his sentence of banishment was in effect remitted. 
And we find that he was so far restored to the affections of the first colonists, as 
to be entrusted with their letters to England, in June, 1628, when Thomas Mor- 
ton was sent home a prisoner. I Mass. Hist. Coll., iii. 63. After the settle- 
ment of Massachusetts, Oldham removed to Watertown, and was till his death 
held in high respect by a people whose standard of morals was graduated by a 
more rigid rule than that of their Plymouth neighbors, and who subjected the 
characters of men to severer tests than were practised in tlie elder colony. 
Oldham was the deputy from Watertown in 1632, in the first general court of 
Massachusetts, to which deputies from the towns were summoned. He was a 
daring trader amongst the Indians, and so great was the attachment of the 
Narragansetts to him, tliat tlicy gave him an island in the bay, (now called 



88 WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

Governor Bradford was twice married. His first 
wife was Dorothy May, who came with him in the May- 
flower, and on the 7th of December, 1620, accidentally 
fell from the vessel into the sea, and was drowned. By 
her Mr. Bradford had one son, John, who lived at Dux- 
bury in 1662, and of whom there is only the traditionary 
account, that he perished at sea. 

The maiden name of Governor Bradford's second 
wife, was Alice Carpenter, a lady of extraordinary ca- 
pacity and worth. It is said that an early attachment 
existed between Mr. Bradford and this lady, and that 
their marriage was prevented by her parents, on account 
of his inferior circumstances and rank. Being now a 
widower. Governor Bradford, by letters to England, 
made overtures of marriage to Mrs. Southworth, who 
was then a widow. She accepted his proposal, and with 
a generous resolution, she embarked in 1623, to meet 
her intended partner, — knowing that he could not well 
leave his responsible station in the new settlement. 
Her two sons, Thomas and Constant Southworth, the 
younger of whom was only six years of age, came over 
with her, and she brought a handsome estate into the 
country. Her marriage with Governor Bradford took 
place on the 14th of August, 1623. She died in March, 
1670, aged 80 years. Their children were, 

1. Wilham, born 17th June, 1624, who was represen- 
tative in 1657, assistant in 1658, and deputy governor of 
Plymouth colony for many years. He was chief mili- 
tary commander, with the title of major, and was an 

Prudence) to induce him to settle near them. Sometime after, while on a trad- 
ing voyage to Manisses, (Block Island,) he was killed in a quarrel with the 
Indians, which act was one of the causes of the Pequot war. Baylies, i. 133. 



WILLIAM BRADFORD. S^ 

active officer in Philip's war. He was one of the coun- 
cil of Andros, in ] 687. He was thrice married. His 
first wife was Ahce Richards, who died in 1671, at the 
age of 44, by whom he had four sons, John, Wilham, 
Thomas, and Samuel. His second wife was a Wiswell, 
by whom he had one son, Joseph, who removed to Con- 
necticut. His third wife was Mrs. Mary Holmes, widow 
of Rev. John Holmes, of Duxbury, by whom he had 
four sons, Israel, Ephraim, David, and Hezekiah. She 
died the year after Major Bradford. By his will, it ap- 
pears that he left nine sons and six daughters — a noble 
legacy for a new territory. 

2. Mercy, the only daughter of Governor Bradford, 
married Benjamin Vermaes, of whom I find no other 
notice than that he was admitted a freeman, 18th of May, 
1642. 

3. Joseph, who married a daughter of the Rev. Peter 
Hobart, of Hingham, lived near Jones' River in Ply- 
mouth, and died 10th July, 1715, in the 85th year of 
his age, leaving one son by the name of Elisha. A 
grand-daughter of his married a Mr. Waters, of Sharon, 
and one of her descendants, Asa Waters, of Stoughton, 
Massachusetts, possesses the Governor's family Bible, 
printed in 1592, which contains a written list of the family 
of Elisha Bradford, son of Joseph, and grandson of 
Governor Bradford. 

Thomas Southworth, step-son of Governor Bradford, 
was chosen an assistant in 1652, was one of the commis- 
sioners of the United Colonics in 1659, 1662, and 1664. 
He died at Plymouth, 8 Nov. 1669, aged 53. He mar- 
ried his cousin Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. John 
Reyner, the minister of Plymouth. 
12 



90 WILLIA3I BRADFORD. 

Constant Southworth, the other step-son of Governor 
Bradford; was the elder of the two brothers, although the 
younger took precedence in public employment. He 
married a daughter of William Collier, of Plymouth, in 
1637. He was a deputy from Duxbury, in 1649, and in 
several other years; treasurer of the colony from 1659 to 
1678, and often one of the assistants. In the early part 
of Philip's war, he was commissary-general, and accom- 
panied the army. The famous warrior Church was his 
son-in-law. He died at Duxbury, in 1678. 

The name of Bradford, has long been distinguished 
in the annals of New England. Samuel Bradford, the 
third son of William, and grandson of Governor Brad- 
ford, settled at Duxbury. He had three sons, Perez, 
Gershom, and Gamaliel. Gamaliel was a colonel of mi- 
litia, representative, a counsellor from 1763 to 1771, and 
for many years judge of the common pleas for the county 
of Plymouth. His second son, Gamahel, was a captain 
in the French wars under Shirley and Pepperell, and 
a colonel in the continental army from 1776 to 1783'. 
He was the father of the Hon. Alden Bradford, late 
Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and 
author of some highly valuable publications illustrating 
the history of New England. Alden Bradford, LL. D. 
was born at Duxbury, in 1765. He graduated at Har- 
vard College, in 1786, and was Tutor in that institution 
three years. He then studied theology, and in 1793, 
was settled in the ministry at Wiscasset, Maine. In Sep- 
tember, 1801, his health failing, he was compelled to 
resign his charge, and he returned to Massachusetts. 
He was soon after appointed Clerk of the Supreme Ju- 
dicial Court, which office he held for ten years. He was 



WILLIAM BRADFORD. 01 

elected Secretary of the Commonwealth, in 1812, and 
continued in that office until 1824. He died in Boston, 
on the 26th October, 1843, aged 78. 

John, the eldest son of the deputy governor, is fre- 
quently mentioned in the Plymouth records, as selectman 
and on various committees; and in 1692, he was deputy, 
or representative from Plymouth to the general court. 
He married Mercy Warren, daughter of Joseph Warren. 
Their children were John, Alice, Abigail, IMercy, Samuel, 
PrisciHa, and Wilham. He died December 8th, 1736, 
in the eighty-fourth year of his age. Mercy, his widow, 
died 1747, in her ninety-fourth year. Lieut. Samuel 
Bradford, son of the first mentioned John Bradford, 
married Sarah Gray, daughter of Edward Gray of Tiv- 
erton, Rhode Island, and grand-daughter of Edward 
Gray of Plymouth. Their issue were John, Gideon, 
William, who died young, Mary, Sarah, William, Mercy, 
who died young, Abigail, Phebe, and Samuel. The 
aforesaid Lieut. Samuel Bradford, lived and died in 
Plympton, 1740, aged fifty-six years. His widow mar- 
ried William Hunt, of Martha's Vineyard, and died in 
1770. The Hon. William Bradford, late of Bristol, 
Rhode Island, was a son of the above Samuel Bradford. 
He was born at Plympton, Nov. 4th, 1729, and died 6th 
July, 1808. In the revolutionary contest, he took a 
decided part in favour of the rights of the colonies. In 
the cannonade of Bristol, on the evening of Oct. 7, 1775, 
by the British vessels of war, the Rose, Glasgow, and 
Swan, he went on board the Rose, and negotiated for 
the inhabitants. About this time, his own house was de- 
stroyed by the enemy. He was afterwards deputy gov- 
ernor of Rhode Island, speaker of the house of representa- 



92 WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

tives^ and a senator in Congress. His eldest son. Major 
William Bradford^ was aid to Gen. Charles Lee^ of the 
revolutionary army. His residence was near the cele- 
brated Mount Hope, and the story of King Philip, the 
aboriginal proprietor, was familiar to his mind. His de- 
scendants are numerous. 

Dr. Dwight, after visiting the old cemetery upon 
Burial Hill in Plymouth, in 1800, and finding there no 
monument marking the resting-places of Governors Brad- 
ford and Carver, and no grave-stone of an earlier date 
than 1681, laments that the precise spot where either 
was buried cannot be ascertained. The grave of Carver 
remains without a monument ; but over the spot where 
Bradford is supposed to have been buried, a suitable 
monument was erected in May, 1825, by some of his 
worthy descendants. 

Among the puritan relics which have been preserved, 
and are now regarded as objects of great curiosity, are 
several antique arm chairs; one belonging to Governor 
Winslow, and preserved in the Hall of the Massachusetts 
Historical Society at Boston, a second belonging to Gov- 
ernor Carver, and a third belonging to Elder Brewster, 
preserved in Pilgrim Hall at Plymouth, and the fourth 
belonging to Governor Bradford. Of the three first, 
engravings are given by Young in the Chronicles of the 
Pilgrims. Governor Bradford's chair was used by the 
presiding officer of the Old Colony Club, established at 
Plymouth, in 1769. It reverted to the heirs of Dr. L. 
Le Baron, on the dissolution of the Club, and is now pre- 
served by the family of N. Russell, Esq., of Plymouth. 



93 



III. EDWARD WINSLOW. 

This eminently useful person was the eldest son of a 
gentleman of the same name, of Droitwich, in Worces- 
tershire, England, where he was born on the 19th Oc- 
tober, 1595.* Of his education and first appearance in 
life, we have no certain knowledge. He appears, how- 
ever, to have been an educated and accomplished man. 
In the course of his travels on the continent of Europe, 
he went to Leyden, and there became acquainted with 
Mr. Robinson, and the church under his pastoral charge. 
To this church he joined himself as early as the year 
1617; married about the same time, and settled in that 
city, where he remained until the church had decided upon 
a removal to America. He resolved to share their for- 
tunes, and accordingly came hither with the first company 
of emigrants in 1620. His name is the third on the 
list of those who subscribed the Covenant or voluntary 
compact, before their disembarcation at Cape Cod. He 
was one of those who, in the litde shallop or pinnace, 
made the adventurous and perilous examinations of the 
coast and bay of the Cape, and one of the first who came 
on shore, to seek out the most eligible place for founding 
a setdement in this then wild and unknown land. In all 
the initiatory labours for establishing their litde colony, 
the nucleus of a great nation, he was ever active and 
influential. Possessing a sound and well disciplined 

* Extract from the records of St. Peter's church at Droitwich : " 1595, Oct. 
20, baptized Edward, son of Edward Winslow, born tlio previous Friday" — 
whicli was the 19th. His mother's name was Magdalen, surname unknown, 
and she was married 3 Nov. 1594. — Younff's Chron. 27-1. 



94 EDWARD WINSLOW. 

mind, a pious heart, and a happy address, he was emi- 
nently useful, in mitigating the sufferings, and promoting 
the welfare of the pilgrims ; who, either on account of 
the respectability of his family, or the excellent qualities 
of his mind and heart, appear to have regarded him with 
more than ordinary respect, and with a confidence which 
was certainly never misplaced. 

When the great sachem of the Wampanoags, Massa- 
soit, first made his appearance, and through a messen- 
ger invited an interview with the settlers, Mr. Winslow 
was deputed by Governor Carver to meet him; and he 
voluntarily placed himself as a hostage in the hands of 
the Indians, while their chief, Massasoit, held his con- 
ference with the Governor.* 

When Mr. Winslow arrived, his family consisted of 
his wife Elizabeth, and three other persons. His wife 
died on the 24th of March, 1621,t and on the 12th of 
May following he married Susanna, the widow of Wil- 
liam White, and mother of Peregrine, the first English 
child born in New England. This was the first mar- 
riage solemnized in the colony. J 

In July,§ 1621, Mr. Winslow went, in company with 
Stephen Hopkins, to visit the sachem Massasoit at Po- 
kanoket. The design of this visit is related in Brad- 
ford's life.H The particular circumstances of the visit 

* See an account of this first interview, and the treaty between the English 
and the Indians of New Plymouth, in the life of Carver, page 44, ante. 

t Bradford, in Prince, 103. 

t Bradford, in Prince, 105. See note p. 31, of this volume. 

§ Morton says, "The secondoi July this year (1621,) they sent Mr. Edward 
Winslow and Mr. Stephen Hopkins unto the great sachem, Massasoit, with a 
gratuity, to congratulate with him," &c. — Memorial, p. 31. 

H See Life of Bradford, p. 55, ante. 



EDWARD WINSLOW. 95 

may be properly detiiiled licre^ in the very words of the 
original narrative^ supposed to have been written by 
Winslow. 

" We set forward the 10th of June,* about nine o'clock 
in the morning, our guide [Tisquantum] resolving that 
night to rest at Namaschet,f a town under Massasoyt, and 
conceived by us to be very near, because the inhabitants 
flocked so thick upon every slight occasion amongst us; 
but we found it to be some fifteen English miles. On the 
way we found some ten or twelve m.en, women, and chil- 
dren, which had pestered us till we were weary of them ; 
perceiving that (as the manner of them all is) where victual 
is easiest to be got, there they live, especially in the sum- 
mer ; by reason whereof, our bay affording many lobsters, 
they resort every spring-tide thither, and now returned 
with us to Namaschet. Thither we came about three 
o'clock in the afternoon, the inhabitants entertaining us 
with joy, in the best manner they could, giving us a 
kind of bread, called by them Mazium, and the spawn 
of shads, which then they got in abundance, insomuch 
as they gave us spoons to eat them; with these they 
boiled musty acorns, but of the shads we eat heartily. 
After this they desired one of our men to shoot at a crow, 
complaining what damage they sustained in their corn by 
them ; who shooting some four-score off, and killing, they 
much admired at it, as other shots on other occasions. 

^^ After this, Tisquantum told us we should hardly 
in one day reach Packanokick,| moving us to go some 

* Mr. Prince thinks this is a mistake, and that it ouglit to have been the 3'd 
of July. Prince, 105. 

t Part of JNIiddlcborough, Mass. 

i The same witli Pokanokct. Indians words are spelled differently by dif^ 
ferent writers. I here follow the author from whom I copy. 



96 EDWARD WINSLOW. 

eight miles further^ where we should find more store 
and better victuals than there. Being willing to hasten 
our journey, we went, and came thither at sunsetting, 
where we found many of the Namascheucks, (they so 
calling the men of Namaschet, ) fishing upon a ware which 
they had made on a river* which belonged to them, 
where they caught abundance of bass. These welcomed 
us also, gave us of their fish, and we them of our vic- 
tuals, not doubting but we should have enough wher- 
e'er we came. There we lodged in the open fields, for 
houses they had none, though they spent the most of 
the summer there. The head of this river is reported 
to be not far from the place of our abode; upon it are 
and have been many towns, it being a good length. 
The ground is very good on both sides, it being for the 
most part cleared. Thousands of men have lived there, 
which died in a great plague not long since; and pity 
it was and is to see so many goodly fields and so well 
seated without men to dress and manure the same. 

" The next morning we brake our fast, took our leave 
and departed, being then accompanied with some six 
salvages. Having gone about six miles by the river's 
side, at a known shoal place, it being low water, they 
spake to us to put off" our breeches, for we must wade 
through. Here let me not forget the valour arid courage 
of some of the salvages on the opposite side of the river ; 
for there were remaining alive only two men, both aged. 
These two, espying a company of men entering the river, 
ran very swiftly, and low in the grass, to meet us at the 
bank, where, with shrill voices and great courage, stand- 
ing charged upon us with their bows, they demanded 

* Taunton Riveir 



EDWARD WINSLOW. 97 

wh;it we were, supposing us to be enemies^ and tliinking 
to take advantage of us in the water ; but, seeing we 
were friends, they welcomed us with such food as they 
had, and we bestowed a small bracelet of beads on them. 
Thus far we are sure the tide ebbs and flows. 

^' Having here again refreshed ourselves, we proceed- 
ed in our journey, the weather being very hot for travel, 
yet the country so well watered that a man could scarce be 
dry, but he should have a spring at hand to cool his thirst, 
besides small rivers in abundance. The salvages will not 
willingly drink but at a spring-head. When we came 
to any small brook where no bridge was, two of them 
desired to carry us through of their own accords ; also, 
fearing we were or would be weary, offered to carry 
our pieces [guns]; also, if we would lay off any of our 
clothes, we should have them carried ; and as the one 
of them had found more special kindness from one of 
the messengers, and the other salvage from the other, so 
they showed their thankfulness accordingly in affording 
us all help and furtherance in the journey. 

" As we passed along, we observed that there were 
few places by the river but had been inhabited, by reason 
whereof much ground was clear, save of weeds, which 
grew higher than our heads. There is much good tim- 
ber, both oak, walnut tree, fir, beech, and exceeding great 
chestnut-trees. 

"After we came to a town of Massasoyt's, where 
we eat oysters and other fish. From thence we went to 
Packanokick, but Massasoyt was not at home. There we 
stayed, he being sent for. When news was brought of 
his coming, our guide, Tisquantum, requested that at our 
meeting we should discharge our pieces. But one of 
13 



98 EDWARD WINSLOW. 

US going about to charge his piece, the women and 
children, through fear, to see him take up his piece, ran 
away, and could not be pacified till he laid it down again, 
who afterward were better informed by our interpreter. 

^^ Massasoyt being come, we discharged our pieces 
and saluted him, who, after their manner, kindly wel- 
comed us, and took us into his house, and set us down 
by him, where, having delivered our message and pre- 
sents, and having put the coat on his back and the chain 
about his neck, he was not a little proud to behold him- 
self, and his men also to see their king, so bravely attired. 

"For answer to our message, he told us we were 
welcome, and he would gladly continue that peace and 
friendship which was between him and us; and for his 
men, they should no more pester us as they had done; 
also, that he would send to Paomet, and would help us 
with corn for seed, according to our request. 

"This being done, his men gathered near to him, to 
whom he turned himself and made a great speech; 
they sometimes interposing, and, as it were, confirming 
and applauding him in that he said. The meaning 
whereof was (as far as we could learn) thus: Was 
not he, Massasoyt, commander of the country about 
them } Was not such a town his, and the people of it .^^ 
And should not they bring their skins unto us.? To 
which they answered, they were his, and would be at 
peace with us, and bring their skins to us. After this 
manner, he named at least thirty places; and their 
answer was as aforesaid to every one ; so that, as it was 
dehghtful, it was tedious unto us. 

" This being ended, he lighted tobacco for us, and fell 
to discoursing of England and of the King's Majesty, mar- 



EDWARD WINSLOW. 99 

veiling that he would live without a wile. Also he talked 
of the Frenchmen^ bidding us not to suller them to come 
to NaiTOghiganset^ for it was King James's country, and 
he also was King James's man. Late it grew, but vic- 
tuals he offered none ; for, indeed, he had not any, being 
he came so newly home. So we desired to go to rest. 
He laid us on the bed with himself and his wife; they 
at the one end, and we at the other; it being only planks, 
laid a foot from the ground, and a thin mat upon them. 
Two more of his chief men, for want of room, pressed 
by and upon us, so that we were worse weary of our 
lodging than of our journey. 

^^The next day, being Thursday, many of their 
sachims or petty governors came to see us, and many of 
their men also. There they went to their manner of 
games for skins and knives. There we challenged them 
to shoot with them for skins, but they durst not, only 
they desired to see one of us shoot at a mark ; who, 
shooting with hail-shot, they wondered to see the mark 
so full of holes. 

"About one o'clock Massasoyt brought two fishes 
that he had shot ; they were like bream, but three times 
so big, and better meat. [Probably the fish called 
Tataug.] These being boiled, there were at least 
forty looked for share in them ; the most eat of them. 
This meal only we had in two nights and a day; and 
had not one of us bought a partridge, we had taken 
our journey fasting. Very importunate he was to have us 
stay with him longer ; but we desired to keep the Sab- 
bath at home, and feared we should either be light-headed 
for want of sleep ; for what with bad lodging, the savages' 
barbarous singing, ( for they use to sing themselves asleep, ) 



100 EDWARD WINSLOW. 

lice^ and fleas within doors, and mosquitoes without, we 
could hardly sleep all the time of our being there ; we 
much fearing that, if we should stay any longer, we 
should not be able to recover home for want of strength. 

" On Friday morning, before sunrising, we took our 
leave and departed, Massasoyt being both grieved and 
ashamed that he could no better entertain us; and retain- 
ing Tisquantum to send from place to place to procure 
truck for us, and appointed another [guide], Tokamaha- 
mon, in his place, whom we had found faithful before 
and after upon all occasions." 

This narrative gives us a just idea of the hospitality, 
and also of the poverty of the Indians. They gladly 
entertain strangers, with the best they can afford ; but 
it is familiar to them to endure long abstinence. Those 
who visit them must be content to fare as they do, or 
carry their own provisions and be willing to share it with 
them. 

Mr. Winslow's next excursion was by sea to Mona- 
higon (or, as the name is now written, Monhegon,) an 
island a few leagues east of the mouth of the Kennebeck 
river, to procure a supply of bread from the fishing vessels, 
which resorted to the eastern coast in the spring of 1622. 
He obtained a supply, which, though not large, was readily 
given to the suffering colony, and, being prudently man- 
aged in the distribution, amounted to one quarter of a 
pound a day for each person till the next harvest. By 
means of this excursion, the people of New Plymouth ob- 
tained a knowledge of the eastern coast, of which they 
afterwards availed themselves in the establishment of a 
beneficial traffic with the natives.* 

* Prince, 119. Purchas, iv. 1836. 



EDWARD WINSLOW. 101 

In the spring of the following year, ( 1G23,) Mr. Wins- 
low made a second visit to Massasoit, on account of his 
sickness,* the particular circumstances of which are thus 
given in his own words :f 

^^News came to Plymouth that Massassowat| was 
like to die, and that, at the same time, there v/as a Dutch 
ship driven so high on the shore, by stress of weather, right 
before his dwelling, that, till the tides increased, she could 
not be got off. Now it being a commendable manner of 
the Indians, when any, especially of note, are dangerously 
sick, for all that profess friendship to them to visit them 
in their extremity, either in their persons, or else to 
send some acceptable persons to them ; therefore, it was 
thought meet, being a good and warrantable action, that, 
as we had ever professed friendship, so we should now 
maintain the same by observing this their laudable cus- 
tom ; and the rather, because we desired to have some 
conference with the Dutch, not knowing when we should 
have so fit an opportunity. 

" To that end, myself having formerly been there, and 
understanding in some measure the Dutch tongue, the 
governor [Bradford] again laid this service upon myself, 
and fitted me with some cordials to administer to him ; 
having one Master John Hampden,§ a gentleman of 
London, who then wintered with us, and desired much 
to see the country, for my consort, and Hobbamock for 
our guide. So we set forward, and lodged the first 
night at Namasket, where we had friendly entertainment. 

* This visit was in March. Prince, 129. 

t From the copy of Winslow's " Good Newcs from New England,"' reprint- 
ed in Young's Chronicles of the Pilgrims. 
t Thus spelled in Winslow's narrative. 
§ See note, page 64, ante. 



102 EDWARD WINSLOW. 

" The next day, about one of the clock, we came to 
a ferry in Conbatant's* country, where, upon discharge 
of my piece, divers Indians came to us from a house not 
far off. They told us that Massassowat was dead and 
that day buried, and that the Dutch would be gone 
before we could get thither, having hove off their ship 
already. This news struck us blank, but especially 
Hobbamock, who desired we might return with all speed. 
I told him I would first think of it, considering now, that 
he being dead, Conbatant was the most like to succeed 
him, and that we were not above three miles from Mat- 
tapuyst,f his dwelHng-place. Although he were but a 
hollow-hearted friend towards us, I thought no time so 
fit as this to enter into more friendly terms with him and 
the rest of the sachims thereabout ; hoping, through the 
blessing of God, it would be a means in that unsettled 
state, to settle their aff'ections towards us ; and though it 
were somewhat dangerous, in respect of our personal 
safety, because myself and Hobbamock had been em- 
ployed upon a service against him, which he might now 
fitly revenge ; yet esteeming it the best means, leaving 
the event to God in his mercy, I resolved to put it in 
practice, if Master Hampden and Hobbamock durst at- 
tempt it with me, whom I found willing to that or any 
other course might tend to the general good. So we 
went towards Mattapuyst. 

" In the way, Hobbamock, manifesting a troubled 
spirit, brake forth into these speeches. ^ JVeen ivomasu 
Sagimus,^ &c. : ^ My loving sachem ! many have I known, 

* His name is spelled Corbitant, Caunbitant, Conbatant, and Conbutant. 
This ferry is probably the same which is now called Slade's Ferry, in Swansey. 

t A neck of land in the township of Swansey, commonly pronounced Mat- 
tapoiset. 



EDWARD WINSLOW. 103 

but never any like thee !' And turning to him, said^ 
whilst I lived, I should never see his like amongst the In- 
dians; saying he was no liar, he was not bloody and 
cruel like other Indians ; in anger and passion he was 
soon reclaimed ; easy to be reconciled towards such as 
had offended him; ruled by reason, in such measure 
as he would not scorn the advice of mean men ; and that 
he governed his men better with few strokes than others 
did with many ; truly loving where he loved ; yea, he 
feared we had not a foithful friend left among the In- 
dians, showing how he oftimes restrained their malice 
&c., continuing a long speech, with such signs of lamen- 
tation and unfeigned sorrow, as it would have made the 
hardest heart relent. 

" At length we came to Mattapuyst, and went to the 
Sachimo comaco, for so they call the sachim's place, though 
they call an ordinary house witeo ; but Conbatant, the 
sachim, was not at home, but at Puckanokick, which was 
some five or six miles off. The squa-sachim, for so they 
call the sachim's wife, gave us friendly entertainment. 
Here we inquired again concerning Massassowat ; they 
thought him dead, but knew no certainty. Whereupon 
I hired one to go with all expedition to Puckanokick^ 
that we might know the certainty thereof, and, withal^ 
to acquaint Conbatant with our there being. About half 
an hour before sunsetting the messenger returned, and 
told us he was not yet dead, though there was no hope 
we should find him Hving. Upon this we were much 
revived, and set forward with all speed, though it was 
late within night we got thither. About two of the clock 
that afternoon, the Dutchman departed; so that in that 
respect our journey was frustrate. 



104 EDWARD WINSLOW. 

"When we came thitherj we found the house so 
full of men as we could scarce get in, though they used 
their best diligence to make way for us. There were 
they in the midst of their charms for him, making such 
a hellish noise, as it distempered us that were well, and 
therefore unlike to ease him that was sick. About him 
were six or eight women, who chafed his arms, legs, and 
thighs, to keep heat in him. When they had made an 
end of their charming, one told him that his friends the 
English were come to see him. Having understanding 
left, but his sight was wholly gone, he asked who was 
come.^ They told him WinsnoWj (for they cannot pro- 
nounce the letter /, but ordinarily n in the place thereof. ) 
He desired to speak with me. When I came to him 
and they told him of it, he put forth his hand to me, 
which I took ; then he said twice, though very inwardly, 
^ Keen Winsnow V '^ art thou Winslow .?' I answered 
'^ ahhe,^ that is, ^yes.' Then he doubled these words,, 
^ Malta neen wonckanet namen, Winsnow P that is to 
say, ^ O Winslow, I shall never see thee again !' Then 
I called Hobbamock, and desired him to tell Massassowat 
that the governor, hearing of his sickness was sorry for 
the same ; and though, by reason of many businesses, 
he could not come himself, yet he sent me, with such 
things for him as he thought most likely to do him good 
in this his extremity ; and whereof, if he please to take, 
I would presently give him ; which he desired ; and, 
having a confection of many comfortable conserves, &c. 
on the point of my knife, I gave him some, which I could 
scarce get through his teeth. When it was dissolved in 
his mouth, he swallowed the juice of it, whereat those 
that were about him much rejoiced, saying he had not 



EDWARD WINSLOW. 105 

swallowed any thing in two days before. Then I de- 
sired to see his mouth, which was exceedingly furred, 
and his tongue swelled in such a manner, as it was not 
possible for him to eat such meat as they had. Then I 
washed his mouth, and scraped his tongue, after which 
I gave him more of the confection, which he swallowed 
with more readiness. Then, he desiring to drink, 1 
dissolved some of it in water, and gave him thereof. 
Within half an hour this wrought a great alteration in 
him, in the eyes of all that beheld him. Presently after 
his sight began to come to him. Then I gave him more, 
and told him of a mishap we had by the way, in break- 
ing a bottle of drink which the governor also sent him, 
saying, if he would send any of his men to Patuxet, I 
would send for more of the same; also for chickens to 
make him broth, and for other things which I knew were 
good for him, and would stay the return of his messen- 
ger if he desired. This he took marvellous kindly, and 
appointed some who were ready to go by two of the 
clock in the morning, against which time I made ready 
a letter, declaring therein our good success, and desi- 
ring such things as were proper. He requested me that 
the day following I would take my piece and kill him 
some fowl, and make him some English pottage, such 
as he had eaten at Plymouth, which I promised ; after 
his stomach coming to him, I must needs make him some 
without fowl before I went abroad. I caused a woman 
to bruise some corn and take the flower from it, and set 
over the grit or broken corn in a pipkin (for they have 
earthen pots of all sizes.) When the day broke, we 
went out, it being now March, to seek herbs, but could 
not find any but strawberry leaves, of which I gathered 
14 



106 EDWARD WIjVSLOW. 

a handful and put into the same, and, because I had noth- 
ing to rehsh it, I went forth again and pulled up a sassa- 
fras root, and sliced a piece thereof and boiled it, till it 
had a good relish. Of this broth I gave him a pint^ 
which he drank and hked it very well; after this his 
sight mended, more and more, and he took some rest. 
That morning he caused me to spend in going from one 
to another amongst those that were sick in the town,- 
requestingme to wash their mouths also and give to each 
of them some of the same I gave him, saying they were 
good folk. This pains I took with willingness, though 
it were much offensive to me. 

" The messengers were now returned, but finding his 
stomach come to him, he would not have the chickens^ 
killed, but kept them for breed. Neither durst we give 
him any physic, because his body was so much altered,, 
not doubting now of his recovery if he were careful.- 
Upon his recovery, he brake forth into these speeches: 
' Now I see the English are my friends, and love me ; 
and whilst I live, I will never forget this kindness they 
have showed me.' At our coming away, he called Hob- 
bamock to him, and privately revealed the plot of the 
Massacheuseucks against Master Weston's colony, and sO' 
against us. But he would neither join therein nor give 
way to any of his. With this he charged him to ac- 
quaint me by the way, that I might inform the governor. 
Being fitted for our return, we took leave of him, who' 
returned many thanks to our governor, and also to our- 
selves, for our labour and love ; the like did all that were 
about him. So we departed." 

In the autumn of the same year, (1623,) Mr. Wins- 
low went to England, in the ship Ann, which sailed on 



EDWARD WINSLOW. 107 

the 10th September, as agent for the colony, to give an 
account of their proceedings, and of their condition and 
prospects, to the adventurers, and to procure such sup- 
pHes as were necessary. While he was in England, he 
prepared for publication a narrative of the settlement 
and transactions of the colony at New Plymouth, under 
this title : ^* Good JYeices from JYeio England : or a true 
Relation of things venj remarkable at the Plantation of 
Plimoth in JVew England. Shewing the wondrous Provi- 
dence and goodness of God, in their preservation and 
continuance, being delivered from many apparent deaths 
and dangers, Si^c. Written by E. IV. who hath borne a 
part in the fore-named troubles, and there lived since their 
first ArrivaU.^^ 

This narrative, which was first printed at London, 
in 1624, in QQ small quarto pages, embraces the history 
of the colony from the return of the ship Fortune, in 
December, 1G21, to the 10th September, 1623, when 
the author sailed for England. The book, in an 
abridged and mutilated form, was re-printed, in 1625, by 
Purchas, in the fourth volume of his Pilgrims, and has 
been of great service to succeeding historians. This 
abridgment w^as again published in 1802, in I Mass. Hist. 
Coll., viii. 239 — 276, and the omitted passages were sup- 
plied twenty years afterwards, in II Mass. Hist. Coll., ix. 
Young, in his Chronicles, reprints the work, "^ for the 
first time entire and in a legible form, from the original 
London edition." Mr. Winslow was induced to pub- 
lish this work, in order that the friends of the colony in 
England might have a continuation of the narrative from 
the point where Mourt's Relation ends, and alsof to cor- 
rect the misrepresentations which had grown out of the 



108 EDWARD WINSLOW. 

breaking up and dispersion, a short time before, of Wes- 
ton's colony at Wessagusset, composed in chief of idle 
and vicious persons, " who as they were a stain to Old 
England that bred them, in respect of their lives and 
manners amongst the Indians, so, it is to be feared, will 
be no less to New England, in their vile and clamorous 
reports, because she w^ould not foster them in their desir- 
ed idle courses." Appended to this work, is a " Rela- 
tion of such religious and civill Lawes and Customes, as 
are in practice amongst the Indians, adjoyning to them 
at this day. Jls also what Commodities are there to he 
raysedfor the maintenance of that and other Plantations 
in the said Country. ^^ This memoir excited great atten- 
tion at the time it was first published, and is even now, 
when the manners and customs of the abori2:inals of 
New England are better understood, read with interest. 
In concluding, after speaking of the soil and productions 
of the country, he alludes to the extravagant hopes which . 
too often influence the emigrant, and gives a salutary 
warning to all such as " with too great lightness undertake 
such courses ; who peradventure strain themselves and 
their friends for their passage thither, and are no sooner 
there than seeing their foolish imaginations made void, 
are at their wit's end, and would give ten times so much 
for their return. And can any be so simple as to con- 
ceive that the fountains should stream forth wine or 
beer, or the woods and rivers be like butchers' shops, or 
fishmongers' stalls, where they might have things taken 
to their hands ? If thou canst not live without such things, 
and hast no means to procure the one, and wilt not take 
pains foi? the other, nor hast ability to employ others 
for thee, rest where thou art ; for as a proud heart, a 



EDWARD WINSLOW. 109 

dainty tooth, a beggar's purse, and an idle hand, be here 
intolerable, so that person that hath these qualities there, 
is much more abominable." 

In the tbllowing spring, (March, 1624,) Mr. Winslow 
returned in the ship Charity from England having been 
absent six months, bringing a good supply of clothing 
and other necessaries, and, what was of more value than 
any other supply, the first neat cattle ever brought into 
New England.* The colonists learned from Mr. Wins- 
low, that a strong party had been raised up against them 
amongst the adventurers, who were extremely anxious 
to prevent Robinson and the remainder of his church 
from emigrating to America. He brought letters from 
Robinson and Cushman. A carpenter came over for the 
purpose of building two ketches, a lighter, and six 
or seven shallops, and a person also to make salt. The 
carpenter built his craft faithfully and speedily, but soon 
died. The other was ignorant, and did not bring his 
undertaking to any successful issue. f 

During the summer of 1624, Mr. Winslow again 
went to England, where he had an opportunity of cor- 
recting a mistake which had been made in his former 
voyage. The adventurers had in the former vessel sent 



* This fixes the date of the first importation of neat cattle, three heifers 
and a bull being brought over at this time. Bradford, in Prince, 146. The set- 
tlers were destitute of milk the first four years. The first notice of horses, is 
in 1644. Before their introduction, (says Thacher,) it was not uncommon for peo- 
ple to ride on bulls; and there is a tradition in the Old Colony, that when John 
Aldcn went to the Cape to be married to Priscilla Mullins, he covered his bull 
with a handsome piece of broadcloth, and rode on his back. On his return, he 
seated his wife on the bull, and led the uncouth animal by a rope fixed in the 
nose ring. This sample of primitive gallantry would ill compare with that of 
Abraham's servant, when, by proxy, he gallanted Rebekah on her journey, with 
a splendid retinue of damsels and servants seated on camels, Isaac going out to 
meet her. Gen. xxiv. 

t Prince, 146, 148. 



110 EDWARD WINSLOW. 

over John Lyford, a preacher, much against the wishes 
of some of their number, who suspected him of being 
unfit for the office. Mr. Winslow and others reluctantly 
consented to his coming. His worthless character was 
.soon discovered, and Mr. Winslow now imparted his 
suspicions to the adventurers in London. A meeting 
was had, and Mr. Lyford's friends employed counsel 
to defend him ; but upon the examination it appeared, 
that Lyford had been a minister in Ireland, where his 
conduct had been so unprincipled and base, that he was 
compelled to quit the Kingdom, and that the adventurers 
had been imposed upon by false testimony concerning 
his character. With this discovery, Mr. Winslow came 
back to New Plymouth in the spring of 1625, happening 
to arrive while the court was sitting on the affair of Old- 
ham, who had returned after banishment. The true 
characters of these impostors being thus discovered, they 
were both expelled from the plantation.* 

At the annual election in 1624, Governor Bradford 
having prevailed on the people of Plymouth, to increase 
the number of assistants to five, Mr. Winslow was first 
elected to this office, in which he was continued by 
successive appointments until 1633, when, by the same 
influence, he was chosen governor.f 

At the close of the year 1624, the number of souls 
in the colony was one hundred and eighty, who were 

* See account of the proceedings in relation to Oldham and Lyford, in pp. 
85 — 87, of this volume. 

I Governor Winthrop, in his Journal, under date of Jan. l,163f, says, "Mr. 
Edwrard Winslowr vi^as chosen governor of Plymouth, Mr. Bradford having been 
governor about ten [twelve] years, and noic by importunity got off." Savage's 
Winthrop, 98. This remark sufficiently invalidates an insinuation of Hutchin- 
son, that Winslowr's "employment abroad prevented a competition between 
Bradford and him for the governor's place." Hutchinson's History of the 
province of Massachusetts Bay, 457. 



EDWARD WINSLOW. Ill 

then all dwelling within the town. Thirty two dwelling 
houses had been erected. The town was impaled lor 
half a mile in circumference. A well built fort was on 
the hill^ surmounted by a watch tower. For the last 
three years the health of the colony had been remarka- 
ble^ and not one of the first planters had died. At Cape 
Anne, a plantation had been commenced by people from 
Dorchester in England, which they held of the Plymouth 
l)eoplc, and a fishing stage had been erected there,* 

The harvest of 1625, was plenteous, insomuch that 
the planters were overstocked, and wished to dispose of 
some portion of it to the Indians. They had no other 
vessels than two shallops built by the carpenter sent out 
to them in the preceding year, on one of which they 
laid a deck, and sent her, laden with corn, to the Kenne- 
beck. They disposed of the corn to advantage, and re- 
turned with seven hundred pounds of beaver, beside 
other furs, having also opened a profitable trade for fu- 
ture occasions. "This voyage (says Gov. Bradford) 
was made by Mr. Winslow and some old standards, for 
seamen we have none." 

The plantation at Monhiggon being broken up in 
1626, and the commodities belonging to it being offered 
for sale, Mr. Winslow accompanied Governor Bradford 
to that place, on behalf of the company, where they unit- 
ed with Mr. Thompson of Pascataqua in purchasing the 
goods. They also purchased a quantity of French goods, 
being part of the cargo of a ship cast away at Sagade- 
hock.f 

Mr. Winslow appears to have had the principal over- 
sight of the commercial operations of the infant colony. 

* Prince, 151. t Prince, 161. 



112 EDWARD WINSLOW. 

He was well qualified to conduct the many difficult and 
sometimes perilous enterprises, which it became neces- 
sary to take, for the benefit of the colony. He fre- 
quently went to the Penobscot, Kennebeck, and Connec- 
ticut rivers, on trading expeditions, and rendered him- 
self useful and agreeable to the settlers on those rivers. 

Governor Winthrop notices the following narrow es- 
cape of Governor Winslow while on one of these expe- 
ditions to the settlement on the Kennebeck, in the year 
1642: '^^The Indians at Kennebeck hearing of the 
general conspiracy against the English, determined to 
begin there, and one of them knowing that Mr. Edward 
Winslow did use to walk within the palisadoes, pre- 
pared his piece to shoot him, but as he was about it, 
Mr. Winslow not seeing him nor suspecting anything, 
but thinking he had walked enough, went suddenly 
into the house, and so God preserved him.''* 

Upon coming to the chief magistracy in 1633, Gover- 
nor Winslow found that disputes had commenced with 
the Dutch of New Netherlands, respecting the trade upon 
Connecticut river. A friendly correspondence had been 
established in 1627, between the Dutch authorities and 
those of New Plymouth, and during their intercourse, 
the Dutch had given information of a fine river, extend- 
ing far into the country, to which they had given the 
name of Fresh river, but which the natives called Quo- 
nektacut. They extolled the lands bordering the stream, 
and the river as convenient for trade, and urgently 
pressed the people of Plymouth to open a trade with 
the natives. But their advice was neglected at the time. 
Soon after, some of the Indians living upon the river, 

* Savage's Winthrop, ii., 69. 



EDWARD WINSLOW. 113 

who had been driven Irom their homes by the Pequots, 
came to Plymouth, and entreated the English to es- 
tablish a trading house on the river, in the hope that 
through their assistance they might ultimately be re- 
stored to their possessions. Mr. Winslow had himself 
been to the Connecticut, or Fresh River, and found the 
representations of the Dutch and Indians to be true. 
But the people of Plymouth still declined to venture 
upon the establishment of a trading house. The In- 
dians renewing their requests both to the governments 
of Plymouth and Massachusetts, Governor Winslow and 
J\Ir. Bradford proceeded to Boston, and proposed to 
Governor Winthrop and his council to join with Ply- 
mouth in a trade to Connecticut for hemp and beaver, 
and in the erection of a house for the purposes of com- 
merce. It being reported that the Dutch were about to 
build on Connecticut river, Winslow and Bradford rep- 
resented it as necessary to prevent them from taking pos- 
session of that fine country ; but Winthrop objected to the 
making of a plantation there, because there were 3000 or 
4000 warlike Indians on the river; because the bar at 
the mouth was such, that small pinnaces only could enter 
it at high water; and because, seven months in the year, 
no vessel could go in, on account of the ice and the vio- 
lence of the stream. This proposal being decli-ned, the 
people of Plymouth determined to undertake the enter- 
prise at their own risk. The materials for a house, en- 
tirely prepared, were put on board a vessel, and commit- 
ted to a chosen company, which sailed for Connecticut. 
The Dutch of New Netherlands hearing of the design, 
had just taken a station on that river, at the place where 
Hartford now stands ; made a fight fort, and planted two 
15 



114 EDWARD WINSLOW. 

pieces of cannon. On the approach of the Plymouth 
adventurers, the Dutch forbade them to proceed up the 
river, ordered them to strike their colours, and threatened 
to fire on them. But the commander of the enterprise,, 
disregarding the prohibition and the menaces, went reso- 
lutely forward, and, landing on the west side of the river^ 
set up his house at some distance above the Dutch fort^ 
and soon after fortified it with palisadoes. This was the 
fiirst house erected in Connecticut. The place where this 
house was erected was a little below the mouth of Little 
River, in Windsor. It was called by the natives JYata- 
wanute. The sachems, who were the original owners 
of the soil, having been driven from this part of the 
country by the Pequots, William Holmes, who con- 
ducted the enterprise from Plymouth, took them with 
him to their homes, and restored them to their rights. 
Of these sachems the Plymouth people purchased the 
land, where they erected their house. The conquering 
Indians were offended at the restoration of the original 
proprietors of the country ; and the proximity of two 
such neighbors, as the irritated Dutch, and the fero- 
cious Pequots, rendered it difficult and hazardous for 
the English to retain their new purchase.* 

Mr. Winslow, in 1634, on returning from a trading 
expedition to the Dutch at New York, left his vessel in 
Narragansett Bay, and thence went by land to Plymouth. 
He called on his old friend Massasoit, who promised to 
accompany him home. Before he set off, the sportive 
sachem despatched a messenger before them to Ply- 
mouth, to tell the inhabitants that Winslow was dead^ 

* Morton, 89; Savage's Wintlirop, i. 105;. Trumbull, i. 29,. 30; I Mass. 
Hist. Coll., V. 167. 



EDWARD WTNSLOW. 115 

This report filled the whole colony with grief and lamen- 
tation. The sorrow and mourning of the people, how- 
ever, were of but short duration ; for the next day 
Massasoit (or, as he was now called, Ousamequen,) ap- 
peared, conducting the lamented Winslow into the town. 
On being enquired of, why he sent such a message, he 
answered by saying, that he might be the more welcome 
when he came home.* 

In 1635, Mr. Winslow undertook another agency in 
England, for the colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts, 
partly on occasion of the intrusions which had been 
made on the territory of New England, by the French 
on the east, and by the Dutch on the west, and partly 
to answer complaints which had been made to the gov- 
ernment against the Massachusetts colony, by Thomas 
Morton, who had been twice expelled for his misbeha- 
viour, and was labouring in England with great zeal 
against the colonies. 

A special commission had been issued in 1634, to 
Archbishop Laud and eleven others, with the most ex- 
traordinary powers. f It menaced the complete subver- 
sion of the colonies, and the most absolute tyranny both 
in civil and ecclesiastical affairs. The favorite scheme of 
a general governor for all the colonies was again revived, 
and Sir Ferdinando Gorges was the person selected. 
Morton, whose efforts had been unceasing to effect this 
result, in a letter to one of his friends, dated May 1, 1634, 
exultingly writes : " When I was first sent to England, to 
make complaint, — I effected the business but superficially. 
I have this time taken deliberation, and brought the matter 

* Savage's Winthrop, i. 138. 

t Hazard, i. 344—347. Sec also I Mass. Hist. Coll., iv. 119. 



U6 EDWARD WINSLOW. 

to a better pass : and it is thus brought about that the King 
hath taken the matter into his own hands^ appointed a 
Committee of the Board, and given order for a General 
Governor for the whole territory to be sent over." But 
this boast of the inveterate enemy of New England was 
never realised. Owing to the troubles in Scotland and 
Ireland, and the subsequent decline of the influence of 
Laud and others of the council, the whole project failed, 
the apprehensions of the people of New Plymouth and 
Massachusetts were allayed, and both Winthrop and 
Morton have recorded the event as a special interposition 
of Providence. 

Governor Winslow found his situation at this time 
very critical, and his treatment was severe. He pre- 
sented a memorial in writing to the commissioners, in 
which he set forth the encroachments of the French and 
Dutch, and prayed for " a special warrant to the English 
colonies to defend themselves against all foreign ene- 
mies."* Governor Winthrop censured this petition as 
ill-advised, "for such precedents might endanger our 
liberty, that they should do nothing hereafter but by 
commission out of England."! 

The petition, however, was favorably received by 
some of the board. | Winslow was heard several times 
in support of it, and pointed out a way in which the ob- 
ject might have been attained without any charge to the 
crown, by furnishing some of the chief men of the colo- 
nies with authority, which they would exercise at their 
own expense, and without any pubhc disturbances. This 

* See Appendix No. I. Hutchinson's Hist. Prov. Massachusetts Bay. 
t Savage's Winthrop, i. 172. 
,t Morton, 94. 



EDWARD WINSLOW. 117 

proposal crossed thr (lc-;ii»,ii of CJorgcs and Mason, whose 
aim was to estjibllsh a general government; and the arch- 
bishop, who was engaged in their interest, put a check 
to Winslow's proposals, by questioning him upon Mor- 
ton's accusations respecting his own personal conduct in 
America. 

The grave offences alledged against him were, that 
he, not being in holy orders, but a mere layman, had 
taught publicly in the church, and had officiated in the 
celebration of marriages. To the former charge, Wins- 
low answered, " that sometimes, when the church was 
destitute of a minister, he had exercised his gift for the 
edification of the brethren." To the latter he replied, 
^^that, though he had officiated as a magistrate in the 
solemnizing of marriage, yet he regarded it only as a civil 
contract;* that the people of New Plymouth had for a 
long time been destitute of a minister, and were com- 
pelled by necessity to have recourse to the magistrate in 
that solemnity; that this was not to them a novelty, hav- 
ing been accustomed to it in Holland, where he himself 
had been married by a Dutch magistrate in the State 
House." On this honest confession, the archbishop pro- 
nounced him guilty of the crime of separation from the 
National Church, and prevailed upon the board to con- 
sent to his imprisonment. He was thereupon commit- 
ted to the Fleet prison, where he remained for seventeen 
weeks in confinement. But after that time, on petitioning 
the board, he obtained a release. 

* Ministers were never licensed to solemnize marriages in New Plymouth ; 
and in Massachusetts, previous to the union in 1602, the magistrates retained 
this office in tlieir own hands witli peculiar jealousy. " We are not willing (says 
Winthrop) to bring in the EnglisJi custom of ministers performing the solemni- 
ty of marriage." — Sav. Winthrop, ii. 313. 



118 EDWARD WINSLOW. 

On his return to New Plymouth, the colony again 
declared their confidence and respect by choosing him to 
the office of governor for the succeeding year, (1636.) 
This was an important period in the history of the colony. 
The surrender of the Patent by the council of Plymouth, 
the arbitrary, though fruitless commission to Laud and 
others, and the treatment which Governor Winslow had 
himself experienced in England, all served to convince 
the settlers of the necessity of adopting and declaring 
the fundamental laws of the colony. Hitherto no laws 
defining the powers of the government had been adopt- 
ed, and the governor and assistants maintained their au- 
thority rather by common consent, than any delegated 
power. The laws of England were considered in force, 
unless changed by colonial statutes ; but there were no 
lawyers in the colony, and but few persons who had any 
practical knowledge of the science of law. The clergy 
only understood its elementary principles, and they were 
more disposed to follow the laws of Moses, than the laws 
of England. 

The period had now arrived, when all perceived the 
necessity of defining the limits of the powers and the du- 
ties of the magistrates, of establishing fundamental and 
organic laws, civil and criminal, and of placing the gov- 
ernment on a stable foundation. This was done, by the 
court of associates, in November, 1636, after which the 
affairs of the colony appear to have been regularly and 
faithfully administered upon the basis of a written code 
of laws. 

The Plymouth colonists in religious matters were 
more tolerant than their neighbours of Massachusetts. 
When Roger Williams, the apostle of liberty in New 



EDWARD WINSLOVV. 119^ 

England^ had been driven IVom Massachusetts for his 
opinions, and was reduced to circumstances of extreme 
indigence, Governor Winslow extended to him the hand 
of charity, and afforded rehef by advice and money. " It 
pleased the Father of Mercies," said Mr. WiOiams, " to 
touch many hearts with relentings, among whom that 
great and pious soul, Mr. Winslow, melted, and he kindly 
furnished me at Providence, and put a piece of gold inta 
the hands of my wife for our supply." 

The year 1643, is memorable in the history of the 
New England colonies. Since the establishment of New 
Plymouth, the colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut, 
New Haven and Rhode Island had sprung into existence^ 
and while the concerns of each were well and safely man- 
aged by their local councils and assemblies, all felt the 
necessity of some general authority to protect the common, 
interests of the whole. Governor Winslow seems ta 
have looked to the establishment of such a power, when,, 
in 1635, he petitioned the royal commissioners in Lon- 
don for a special warrant to the colonies to defend them- 
selves against their enemies. Certain it is, that the sub- 
ject was discussed, from time to time, until the want 
of concert on the breaking out of the Pequot war, satis- 
fied the people of the importance and necessity of some 
general union for mutual defence against the Indians. 
In 1643, Governor Winslow went to Boston, as one of 
the commissioners from Plymouth, where articles of 
Confederation were drawn up and signed on the 19th of 
May, by the commissioners of all the colonies present, 
excepting those from Plymouth, who, for want of power 
from their general court, deferred signing until the next 
meeting; and then, (Sept. 7,) they also signed them.. 



120 EDWARD WINSLOW. 

Governor Winslow continued to act as one of the Com^ 
missioners until he left the colony in 1646, 

The Commissioners declared^, that^ as in nation and 
religion^ so in other respects they be and continue as 
one, and henceforth be called and known by the name 
of The United Colonies of New England. 

The features of this confederacy, the prototype of 
the American Union, are thus described in Pitkin's 
Civil and Political History of the United States : 

" By the articles of confederation, as they were called, 
these colonies entered into a firm and perpetual league 
of friendship and amity, for offence and defence, mutual 
advice and succor, upon all just occasions, both for pre- 
serving and propagating the truth and liberties of the 
Gospel, and for their own mutual safety and welfare. 
Each colony was to retain its own peculiar jurisdiction 
and government, and no other plantation or colony was 
to be received as a confederate, nor any two of the 
confederates to be united into one jurisdiction, without 
the consent of the rest. The affairs of the united colo- 
nies were to be managed by a legislature to consist of 
two persons, styled commissionei^s, chosen from each 
colony. These commissioners had power to hear, ex- 
amine, weigh, and determine all affairs of war or peace, 
leagues, aids, charges, and number of men for war, — di- 
vision of spoils, and whatsoever is gotten by conquest — 
receiving of more confederates for plantations into combi- 
nation with any of the confederates ; and all things of a 
hke nature, which are the proper concomitants and con- 
sequences of such a confederation for amity, offence, 
and defence ; not intermeddling with the government of 
any of the jurisdictions, which, by the third article, is 



EDWARD VVINSLOW. 121 

reserved entirely to themselves. The commissioners 
were to meet annually^ in each colony^ in succession^ and 
when met, to choose a president, and the determination 
of any six to be binding on all. 

"The expenses of all just wars to be borne by each 
colony, in proportion to its number of male inhabitants, 
of whatever quality or condition, between the ages of 
sixteen and sixty. 

" In case any colony should be suddenly invaded, on 
motion and request of three magistrates of such colony, 
the other confederates were immediately to send aid to 
the colony invaded in men, Massachusetts one hundred, 
and the other colonies forty-five each, or for a less num- 
ber, in the same proportion. The commissioners, how- 
ever, were very properly directed, afterwards, to take 
into consideration the cause of such war or invasion, and 
if it should appear that the fault was in the colony in- 
vaded, such colony was not only to make satisfaction to 
the invaders, but to bear all the expenses of the war. 

'' The commissioners were also authorised to frame 
and establish agreements and orders in general cases of a 
civil nature, wherein all the plantations were interested, 
for preserving peace among themselves, and preventing 
as much as may be all occasions of war, or difference 
with others, as about the free and speedy passage of jus- 
tice, in every jurisdiction, to all the confederates equally 
as to their own, receiving those that remove from one 
plantation to another, without due certificates. 

"It was also very wisely provided in the articles, 
that runaway servants, and fugitives from justice, should 
be returned to the colonies where they belonged, or 
from which they had fled. 
16 



122 EDWARD WINSLOW. 

" If any of the confederates should violate any of the 
articles, or, in any way injure any one of the other colo- 
nies, such breach of agreement or injury, was to be 
considered and ordered by the commissioners of the 
other colonies."* 

This confederacy, which was declared to be perpet- 
ual, continued without any essential alteration, until the 
New England colonies were deprived of their charters 
by the arbitrary proceedings of James II. In tKe year 
1648, some of the inhabitants of Rhode Island request- 
ed to be admitted into the confederacy, but they were 
informed that the Island was within the patent granted 
to New Plymouth, and therefore their request was de- 
nied. The plantations at Providence were also denied 
admission, and those beyond the Pascataqua were not 
admitted, because " they ran a different course" from the 
Puritans. 

Mr. Winslow was for the last time chosen to the 
chief magistracy in 1644, having since he last filled that 
office, been fii^t on the list of magistrates. He was soon 
after engaged in the pubhc service abroad, and never 
returned to New England. 

In 1646, the colony of Massachusetts Bay prevail- 
ed upon Governor Winslow to proceed to England m 
their behalf, to answer complaints which had been pre- 
ferred by Samuel Gorton and others, charging the Mas- 
sachusetts authorities with religious intolerance and per- 
secution.! Governor Winthrop remarks, that Mr. Wins- 
low was "a fit man to be employed in our affairs in 

* Pitkin's History of the U. S., i. 50, 51. The Articles of Union are i» 
Winthrop, Hubbard, Neal, &c. 

i Hutchinson's Hist, of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay^ 145 — 149. 



EDWARD WINSLOW. . 123 

England^ both in regard to his abilities of presence, 
speech, courage and understanding, as also being well 
known to the commissioners."* He set sail about the 
middle of October, 1646. 

Gorton was an enthusiast of more than common 
ability, who gave the colonists much trouble. He came to 
Boston in 1636; went thence to New Plymouth, where 
he caused some uneasiness; from whence he went to 
Newport, and there behaved so that they inflicted cor- 
poral punishment upon him. He very soon got into 
difficulty with the authorities of Massachusetts, was ar- 
rested and imprisoned, was afterwards liberated, and in 
1644, proceeded to England. On arriving there, he 
published an account of the proceedings against himself 
and others in New England, under the title of ^'^Simpli- 
cities Defence against Seven-Headed Policy. Or, Inno- 
cency Vindicated, being unjustly accused, and sorely Cen- 
sured, by that Seven-headed Church- Government united 
in JVeio England,^'' &c. Printed in London, in 1646, in 
111 small quarto pages. f 

Governor Winslow, on reaching London, found it 
incumbent upon him to answer the publication of Gor- 

* Winthrop, ii. 283, (Savage's edit.) 

i Gorton's book is reprinted entire, from the original edition, in Force's 
Collection of Tracts, Vol. IV, No. 6 ; together with the entire Letter of Gorton 
to Secretary Morton, written in June, 1669, vindicating himself from the 
charges contained in the Memorial^a portion of which letter was published by 
Hutchinson in the Appendix to his History of the Colony of Massachusetts 
Bay. There is no doubt that the zealot, Gorton, was cruelly persecuted for 
his singular theological opinions, expressed with a freedom that sometimes de- 
generated into insolence. He was arrested by order of court, and in 1643, con- 
demned to be " confined at Charlcstown, and there set on work, and to wear 
such bolts or irons as may hinder his escape," with the further condition, that 
if he maintain " any of his abominable heresies," he should be, on conviction, 
put to death. Seven of his associates were also confined in separate towns. 
Savage's Winthrop, ii. 147. 



124 EDWARD WINSLOW. 

ton, and he accordingly published a reply, covering 103 
small quarto pages, entitled " Hypocrisie Unmasked : 
By a true Relation of the Proceedings of the Governor 
and Company of the Massachusetts against Samuel Gor- 
ton, a notorious disturber of the Peace,'''' &c. Appended 
to this work, which has never been reprinted in America, 
and of which Young supposes, that no copy exists in 
this country, is a chapter entitled, "^ Biiefe JVarration 
of the true grounds or cause of the first Planting of JYew 
England,''^ &lc. This portion of the book is reprinted 
by Young, as " Chap, xxv," of his Chronicles. The 
same book was afterwards published in London, in 1649, 
with the following title : " The danger of tolerating Level- 
lers, in a Civil State; or a Historical JVarration of the 
dangerous practises and opinions wherewith Samuel Gor- 
ton and his levelling accomplices so much disturbed and 
molested the several plantations in JVew England : By 
Edward Winslow, of Plymouth, in JYeiv Engla7id.^^ 

Besides the complaints of Gorton and his company. 
Governor Winslow was especially instructed to answer 
the charges of a want of religious freedom in Massa- 
chusetts, and denial of civil privileges to such as were 
not church-members, preferred against that colony, by 
Robert Child,* William Vassall, and others. In answer 
to the charge, that the Massachusetts government was 
intolerant and arbitrary, he was specially instructed to 

* Robert Child was a ph}^sician, and had taken his degree at the University 
of Padua, in Italy. He came to this country partly with the view of exploring 
the mines; purchased the patent of Richard Vines of Saco, in 1645; was un- 
successful in his mining speculations ; afterwards became embroiled in political 
controversy, in Massachusetts, and was fined and imprisoned for sedition. He 
went to England in 1647, and never returned. Major John Child, who accom- 
panied Vassall to England, was his brother. Winthrop says, " he was major of 
a regiment in Kent." See page 126. 



EDWARD WINSLOW. 125 

say, that ^' we have four or five hundred express laws, 
as near the laws of England as may be ; and where we 
have no law, we judge by the word of God as near as 
we can." And in reference to the well known objections 
in Massachusetts to the scheme of a general govern- 
ment for New England, he was instructed to assert for 
that colony their absolute power of government, as given 
to them by their charter.* 

Governor Winslow had several hearings before the 
commissioners for the affairs of New England, among 
whom were the Earl of Warwick and Sir Henry Vane, 
both zealous Puritans, and friendly to New England, by 
whose influence, doubtless, the colony escaped censure. 

The times had greatly changed, and the Puritans 
being in power in England, Mr. Winslow had great 
advantage in this business, from the credit and esteem 
which he enjoyed with that party. We have no account 
of the particulars of this agency, but only in general, 
that "by his prudent management he prevented any 
damage, and cleared the colony from any blame or dis-- 
honour." 

But Massachusetts was not alone in her dread of the 
advance of sectarism. Rhode Island had been excluded 
from the league on account of her toleration of what was 
deemed to be heresy, and a better understanding of the 
true principles of liberty was at the same time struggling 
manfully for a foothold in New Plymouth. Governor 
Winslow, in a letter to Governor Winthrop, dated " 24 
(9th) 1645," laments in the following strain the pre- 
valence of a spirit of toleration in New Plymouth, which 
had already gained over a majority of the deputies, and 

* Savage's Winthrop, ii. 300. 



126 EDWARD WINSLOW. 

tliree of the assistants: "The sum of it was^ (says he^) 
to allow and maintain full and free tolerance of religion 
to all men that would preserve the civil peace, and sub- 
mit unto government ; and there was no limitation or 
exception against Turk, Jew, Papist, Arian, Socinian, 
Nicolaitan, Familist, or any other, &c. But our Gov- 
ernor and several of us having expressed the sad 
consequences would follow, especially myself and Mr. 
Prence, yet notwithstanding it was required, according 
to order, to be voted. But the Governor would not suf- 
fer it to come to the vote, as being that indeed would 
eat out the power of godliness, &lc. By this you may 
see that all the troubles of N. E. are not at the Massa- 
chusetts."* 

William Vassall, mentioned above, was of Scituate ; a 
man somewhat in advance of the age in which he lived, 
in his views of civil and religious liberty. f He was one 
of the agents sent to England in 1646, with complaints 
against the Massachusetts colony. Soon after his arrival 
there, a pamphlet, purporting to have been written by 
Major John Child, and no doubt prepared with the con- 
currence if not assistance of Vassall, was published, 
under the quaint title of '^^JYew England'' s Jonas cast up 
at London,^^ &c. — a small quarto, of 22 pages, printed 
in London, in 1647. In a postscript to this pamphlet, 

* Hutchinson's Coll. relative to the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, 154. 

t William Vassall was one of the first assistants of Massachusetts, chosen 
in England in 1629, and came over in 1630, in the fleet with Winthrop. He 
soon after returned to England; but came back in 1635, and settled in Scituate 
in the colony of New Plymouth, where he remained until about 1650, when, 
having laid the foundation of several large estates in the West Indies, he re- 
moved to Barbadoes, and died there in 1655. Hutchinson says he was a man 
of pleasant and affable manners, but always in opposition to government both 
in Massachusetts and Plymouth. 



EDWARD WINSLOW. 127 

Major Child attacks the book pubHshed by Winslow 
against Gorton, (^^Hypocrisie Unmasked/') and charac- 
terises him as "a principal opposer of the laws of Eng- 
land in New England."* 

Winthrop characterises Vassall as ^^ a man never at 
rest but when he was in the fire of contention." Mr. 
Winslow, who held the pen of an able controversialist, 
was of course not long in preparing a keen and pungent 
answer, vindicating the colony, and repelling the accu- 
sations of his assailant ; and, as if the remark of Gov- 
ernor Winthrop respecting Vassall had suggested it, he 
gives his pamphlet the title of ^'^JVew EnglaiuVs Sala- 
mander, discovered hy an irreligious and scornful Pam- 

* The title to Major Child's pamphlet, was probably suggested by the follow- 
ing circumstances. The Rev. Mr. Cotton, at his Thursday lecture rn Boston 
before the sailing of the ship, in which Major Child and Mr. Vassall had taken 
passage to London, preached from Cant. ii. 15 : " Take us the foxes, the little 
foxes, that spoil the vines," &c. ; and in his uses took occasion to say, that he 
advised the shipmaster, that if storms did arise, to search if they had not in any 
chest or trunk any Jonas on board, which if you find, I do not advise you to throw 
the persons overboard, but the writings. Storms did arise : and some of the pas- 
sengers remembering Mr. Cotton's sermon, a woman from among them came from 
between decks about midnight, to Mr. William Vassall, who lay in the great cabin, 
(but for the present was in the steerage doorway looking abroad,) and earnestly 
desired him, if there were any Jonas in the ship it might be thrown overboard. 
He asked her why she came to him ? and she said, because it was thought he had 
some writings against the people of God. But he answered her that he had 
nothing except a petition to Parliament that they might enjoy the liberty of Eng- 
lish subjects, and that could be no Jonas. After this she went into the great 
cabin to Mr. Thomas Fowle, in a like distracted manner, who told her he had 
nething but a copy of the petition, which himself and others had presented to the 
Court at Boston ; but that if she and others thought that to be the cause of the 
storm, she and they might do what they would with it. So she took and carried 
it between decks, to them from whom she came, and they agreed to throw it 
overboard; but they had many great storms after that. After their arrival at 
London, the report of an astonishing miracle was spread abroad, viz : the saving^ 
of the ship and passengers by throwing the petition to Parliament overboard; 
whereas " it was only the copy of a petition to their own Court at Boston ; and 
the petition to Parliament was still in the ship, together with another copy of that 
which was thrown overboard, and were as well saved as their lives and other 
goods, and are here to be seen and made use of in convenient time." [See tract 
(imperfect) in II Mass. Hist. Coll. iv. 107.] 



128 EDWARD WINSLOW. 

phlet, called JYew England^s Jonas cast up at London, 
Sfc.j owned by Major John Childe, but not probable to be 
written by him,'''' See. London, 1647, 29 pp. sm. 4to.* 

The civilization of the Indians, and their conversion 
to the Christian rehgion, were objects which the people 
of the colonies never lost sight of; and in this great and 
good work, Mr. Winslow was, from principle, very zeal- 
ously engaged. While in England, he employed his in- 
terest with the members of Parliament, and other gen- 
tlemen of quality and fortune, to erect a corporation 
there for the prosecution of the design. For this pur- 
pose an act of Parliament was passed, incorporating a 
society in England '^^ for propagating the Gospel in New 
England."'* The commissioners of the United Colonies 
were constituted a board of correspondents, and distri- 
butors of the money, which was supplied in England by 
charitable donations from all the cities, towns, and pa- 
rishes, in the kingdom. f By the influence and exer- 
tions of both these respectable bodies, missions were 
supported among the Indians of New England ; the 
Bible and other books of piety were translated into the 
Indian tongue, and printed for their use; and great 
pains were taken by several worthy- ministers and other 
gentlemen to instruct the Indians, and reduce them to a 

* See tract in III Mass. Hist. Coll. ii. 110. 

* Hazard, ii. 146. The charter of this Society bears date July 27, 1649. In aid 
of the formation of the Society, a tract was published by Governor Winslow, in 
London, in that year, entitled "The Glorious Progress of the Gospel amongst 
the Indians in New England," &c. It was dedicated by Winslow to the Parlia- 
ment, and contained some introductory remarks from his pen. The test of the 
pamphlet consisted of three letters from Eliot, and one from Mayhew, with an 
appendix by J. D. [John Downam or John Drury.] This tract is reprinted in 
IIIMass. Hist. Coll., iv. 69. 

I Hazard's Collection, i. 636. 



EDWARD WINSLOW. 129 

civilized state. Under the auspices of this Society, the 
celebrated John Eliot undertook his apostolic and suc- 
cessful labors among the Indians of Massachusetts, aided 
in the great work by the two May hews, the younger 
Cotton, and others. Of this corporation, which he had 
done much to establish, Mr. Winslow continued during 
life to be an active and successful member in the promo- 
tion of its interests in England. 

The various employments of Governor Winslow in 
England, on behalf of the colonies, and his own high 
character, had given him a standing such as no other 
New England man enjoyed at this time. His abilities 
were acknowledged by the party then paramount in 
England, and he found so much employment there and 
elsewhere, that he never returned to New Plymouth. 
Judge Davis, in a note to Morton, (p. 261,) says: Mr. 
Winslow was one of the commissioners appointed to de- 
termine the value of the English ships seized and de- 
stroyed by the King of Denmark, and for which resti- 
tution was to be made, according to the treaty of peace 
made with the Protector, April 5, 1654. The com- 
missioners were required to meet at Goldsmith's Hall, 
in London, in the month of June ; and, in case they 
should not agree by a certain day in August, were to be 
shut up in a chamber, without fire, candles, meat, or 
drink, or any other refreshment, until they should agree. 
Of course, an order so peremptory and so characteristic 
of the times as this, would be likely to be effectual, and 
accordingly we do not find that the commissioners had 
any difliculty in coming to an agreement. 

When Oliver Cromwell (1655) planned an expedi- 
tion against the Spaniards in the West Indies, and sent 
17 



130 EDWARD WINSLOW. 

Admiral Penn and General Venables to execute it, he 
appointed three commissioners to superintend and di- 
rect their operations, of which number Winslow was the 
chief; the other two being Richard Holdrip and Ed- 
ward Blagge.* Their object was to attack St. Domingo, 
the only place of strength which the Spaniards at that 
time had in Hispaniola. It has been remarked, that 
Cromwell well understood the character of Mr. Wins- 
low, when he placed him at the head of this commission ; 
for both commanders and many of the officers employed 
in the expedition, were strongly suspected of cherish- 
ing a loyal attachment to the House of Stuart, and of 
nourishing a secret dislike to the Protector. He there- 
fore placed in this responsible situation, one whom he 
could trust. f 

The commanders disagreed in their tempers and 
views, and the control of the commissioners was of no 
avail. The troops, ill-appointed and badly provided, were 
landed at too great a distance from the city, and lost 
their way in the woods. Worn out with hunger and 
thirst, heat and fatigue, they were routed by an incon- 
siderable number of Spaniards : six hundred were slain, 
and the remnant took refuge on board their vessels. 

To compensate as far as possible for this unfortunate 
event, the fleet sailed for Jamaica, which surrendered 
without any resistance. But Mr. Winslow, who par- 

* Hum«, chap. Ixi. Two interesting letters of Winslow, written from Bar- 
badbes, March 16 and 30, 1G54-5, are preserved in Thurloe's State Papers, iii. 
249, 325. In the first, his opinion of oaths is thus expressed : " Our want of com- 
missioners is very great I beseech you, in case any be sent, let us have 

men of such principles as will neither scruple^ to give or take an oath. For my 
part, I look upon an oath as an ordinance of God, and as an essential part of 
government, the very bond of society, yea, so necessary, as without it, the magisr 
Srate will not be able to determine between man and manJ' 

t Baylies, ii. 20. 



EDWARD WINSLOW. 131 

took of the chagrin of tlie defeat;, did not live to enjoy 
the pleasures of victory. In the passage between Ilis- 
paniola and Jamaica^ the heat of the climate threw him 
into a fever, which, operating with the dejection of his 
mind, put an end to his life, on the eighth of May, 1655, 
in the sixty-first year of his age. His body was com- 
mitted to the deep, with the honors of war, forty-two 
guns being fired by the fleet on that occasion. 

The following well meant but inelegant verses, were 
written by one of the passengers on board the ship in 
which he died : 

" The Eighth of May, West from 'Spaniola shore, 
God took from us our Grand Commissioner, 
Winslow by Name ; a man in Chiefest Trust, 
Whose Life was sweet, and Conversation just ; 
Whose Parts and wisdom most men did excel ; 
An honor to his place, as all can tell."* 

Before his departure from New England, Governor 
Winslow had made a settlement on a valuable tract of 
land in Marshfield, to which he gave the name of Cares- 
well, probably from an ancient castle of that name, nine 
miles from Stafford, in Staffordshire, a family seat of the 
Vanes, ancestors of the Earls of Darlington and West- 
moreland. f 

Governor Winslow was twice married. His first 
wife, Elizabeth, as has already been stated, died in March, 
1621. His son, Edward, who came over with him, is 
supposed to have died about the same time. By his 
second wife, Susanna, who was the widow of William 

* Morton's Memorial, 143. 

\ In Speed's Great Britain, (b. i. ch. 35,) Carsicall is named as one of the 
thirteen ancient castles in Staffordshire ; and Bowen (Univ. Geog., i. 225,) 
places Careswell among the chief seats of the nobility of the county. The 
Marshfield estate, which for many years remained in the Winslow family, has 
recently passed into the possession of the Hon. Daniel Webster. 



132 EDWARD WINSLOW. 

White^ and to whom he was married in May, 1621^ he 
had a daughter Susanna, and probably others. His only 
son by this marriage, Josiah Winslow, became a distin- 
guished man in the colony ; was a magistrate, governor, 
and commander in chief of the forces of all the colonies 
of New England, in the war of 1675 with the Indians. 
He died in 1680, at the age of 51.* 

Edward Winslow was the eldest of a family of five 
sons and three daughters, the children of Edward and 
Magdalen Winslow, of Droitwitch, in England. Ed- 
ward was born 19 Oct. 1595, John in April, 1597, Ely- 
nor in April, 1598, Kenelm 29 April, 1599, Gilbert in 
Oct., 1600, Ehzabeth in March, 1601, Magdalen 26 Dec. 
1604, and Josiah in Feb. 1605. 

John, the eldest brother of Edward, came over in 
1621, in the ship Fortune, and was married at New Ply- 
mouth, sometime prior to 1627, to Mary Chilton, daugh- 
ter of James Chilton, one of the first emigrants in the 
Mayflower. The tradition in the family, confirmed by 
a writing left at her death by Mrs. Ann Taylor, in 1773, 
the last grand-child of John Winslow, is, that Mary 
Chilton ^' was the first female who set her foot on the 
American shore." • This may refer either to the landing 
at Cape Cod, where, as is mentioned by Belknap, " the 
women went ashore to wash their clothes;" or, to the 
landing at Plymouth. The descendants of John Alden 
claim for him the honor of having been the first to leap 
upon Plymouth Rock; but the tradition is best received, 
which accords that feat to the adventurous maiden. 
John Winslow resided in Plymouth till about 1656. 
His children were mostly, if not all, born there. His oc- 

* See Memoir of Josiah Winslow. 



EDWARD WINSLOW. 133 

cnpation was that of a merchant ; and he held different 
municipal offices in Plymouth. In 1661, with Antipas 
Boies, Edward Tyng, and Thomas Brattle, he purchas- 
ed the colony lands on the Kennebeck river, for £400 
sterling, and they were afterwards well known as the 
"Plymouth Company in Maine." His place of resi- 
dence was in the north part of ancient Plymouth, 
called '' Plain Dealing.'' This estate was sold to his 
son-in-law, Edward Gray, about the time of his removal 
to Boston, and was, by the latter, disposed of to the Ply- 
mouth colony in 1662, who purchased it as a residence 
for Governor Prence. John Winslow died in Boston in 
1674, aged 78 years; his wife, Mary Winslow, died in 
Boston in 1678. Their children were, six sons — John; 
Isaac, who married a Parnell ; Benjamin ; Edward ; Jo- 
seph ; and Samuel, who died at Boston in 1680; and 
five daughters — Sarah, whose first husband was Miles 
Standish, Jr., second, Tobias Payne, ancestor of the 
Paines of Boston, and third, a Mr. Middlecot; Susanna, 
who married Robert Latham ; Mercy, who married Ar- 
thur Harris; Ann, who married a Le Blond, of Boston ; 
and Mary, who married Edward Gray, of Plymouth, 
died in 1663, leaving two or three daughters and one 
son. One of these daughters married Nathaniel South- 
worth in 1671. Mr. Southworth bought the estate of 
"Plain Dealing" in 1677, but in after years removed 
to Middleborough, and there died, leaving three sons 
and several daughters. 

It is said that John Winslow, eldest son of John, 
brought the Prince of Orange's declaration from Nevis 
to New England, in Feb. 1689, for which he was im- 
prisoned by Sir Edmund Andros. From the eldest son 



134 EDWARD WINSLOW. 

Johrij (through John, son of the latter,) it is supposed 
that the family of the late General John Winslow, of 
Boston, is descended.* 

Edward, the fourth son, it is thought, had a first 
wife in Plymouth before he left that place. His second 
wife was Ehzabeth Hutchinson, daughter of Anne Hutch- 
inson, celebrated in the history of Massachusetts for her 
religious zeal, persecution, banishment, and tragical 
death in 1643, (being slain by the Indians on Long-Island 
with her family of sixteen persons, except one daugh- 
ter.) Edward Winslow died in Boston in 1682, aged 
48 years; his wife Ehzabeth, in 1728, aged 89. The 
deaths of the other children of John Winslow, except 
Samuel, who died in 1680, are not known. The chil- 
dren of Edward and Elizabeth were, Edward and four 
daughters, of whom Susanna married an Alden, supposed 
to be a son of John Alden, commander of the Province 

* Brig. Gen. John Winslow was born in Boston, 29 Sept. 1753, and bred a 
merchant. At the age of twenty-two, he entered the Revolutionary Army, as 
Deputy Paymaster General, with the rank of Lieutenant, in the Northern Depart- 
ment. He joined the army at Quebec, under Gen. Montgomery, and was in 
the battle. June 8th, 1777, he received a commission as Captain of Artillery 
and was placed under the command of Maj. Ebenezer Stevens, late a Major 
General in New York. He was in the battle which resulted in the capture of 
Burgoyne, and one of those who took the account of the stores, «fcc., found in 
his camp; and also had the charge of many prisoners. He was afterwards sta- 
tioned at West Point, and White Plains. When the American Army was re- 
treating, under Gen. Wooster, from Quebec, and the enemy close upon their 
heels, he saved the public chest, and lost his own baggage, and wardrobe, as val- 
uable as those of any officer in the line. He was thus left destitute of clothing, 
not having sufficient to change his linen for thirty-five days. He received, on the 
settlement of his accounts as Paymaster — the footing of which was $865,700 — 
a certificate from the Paymaster General, wherein his conduct was highly ap- 
proved; and, it was said, he was almost the only Paymaster who had faithfully 
accounted for the public money. He was at the battle of Ticonderoga, and when 
the army, under Gen. St. Clair, retreated from that place, he again saved the 
books and property entrusted to his care, and lost most of his own. He ob- 
tained an honorable discharge, in Nov. 1778 ; was afterwards a brigadier general 
of militia and held various civil trusts. He died 29 Nov. 1819. 



EDWARD WINSLOW. 135 

Sloop, who, being accused of witchcraft during the 
witch mania of 1692, suffered imprisonment fifteen weeks 
in Boston. Another daughter, Mrs. Ann Taylor, died in 
Milton, in 1773, aged 94 — and was the last surviving 
grand-child of John Winslow and Mary Chilton. 

Edward, son of Edward, and grandson of John, was 
born in 1669; married Hannah Moodey, daughter of 
Rev. Joshua Moodey, minister of the first church in 
Boston, a zealous opponent of the witch mania, and who 
suffered for it by being obliged to leave his church. 
Edward Winslow had a family of nine sons and two 
daughters. His eldest son Joshua, and youngest, Isaac, 
were two of the principal merchants in Boston, from 
1730 to 1768. One of his sons, John, also lived in Bos- 
ton till 1775, and removed to Dunstable, where he died 
in 1778, aged 88. 

Two of his sons, William and Samuel, were in the 
commissariat department at the siege of Louisburg in 
1745, and both died there. The youngest daughter of 
Edward Winslow, by a second wife, Elizabeth, mari'ied 
Richard Clark, an eminent merchant of Boston ; and a 
daughter of the latter married John S. Copley, the cele- 
brated painter. Their descendants are in England, 
Canada, and Boston. Edward Winslow was a gold- 
smith; he was a Colonel of the Boston Regiment, 
and first sheriff of the County of Suffolk ; from about 
1722 to 1742, his residence was in State street, the 
estate since the site of the Tremont Bank. He died in 
Boston in 1753, aged 84. 

Joshua Winslow, great grandson of John Winslow 
and Mary Chilton, married Elizabeth Savage, and had a 
family of sixteen children. He died in October, 1767.. 



136 EDWARD WINSLOW. 

Isaac Winslow, brother of the aforesaid, married Lucy 
Waldo, daughter of Brigadier General Samuel Waldo; 
his second wife was Jemima Dubuc. He had by the 
first wife eleven children, and two by the last. He was a 
loyalist, having been appointed a mandamus counsellor 
in 1774. He died in New York, in 1777. — His descend- 
ants are principally in Boston, but many are also in 
England. 

Edward, the eldest son of Joshua, and great-great- 
grandson of John Winslow and Mary Chilton, became 
a clergyman of the Episcopal church, after some opposi- 
tion from his friends, (having by them been destined for 
the Congregational ministry, and to escape from whose 
control he betook himself for a while to commerce,) 
and succeeded Dr. Samuel Johnson at Stratford, Ct. 
From 1764 to 1777, he was Rector of Quincy; but 
as, on the Revolution opening, he could neither con- 
sent to omit, nor yet safely read, the prayers for the 
King, he resigned, and removed to New York city. 
Here he died suddenly, while ascending the steps of his 
house, on his return from a funeral, Oct. 31, 1780, aged 
59, and was buried under the altar of St. George's 
church. From him are descended those of that name in 
North Carolina. Joshua, a younger brother, was a mer- 
chant, married a daughter of Commodore Loring, and 
died in Boston in 1775. His descendants are all in Eng- 
land. 

Margaret married Colonel Benjamin Pollard, Sheriff 
of Suffolk, and many of their descendants are now living 
in Boston. Isaac, the youngest, born in 1743, was edu- 
cated for a profession, but abandoned this and became a 
merchant. His first wife was a daughter of the Rev. 



EDWARD WINSLOW. 137 

John Sparhawk, of Salem, ancestor of the Sparhawks 
of New Hampshire ; his second wife was Mary Davis, 
daughter of Benjamin Davis, of Boston, by whom he 
had six sons and two daughters. He died in Boston in 
1793. His descendants are in Massachusetts, New York, 
and South Carohna.* 

Kcnelm IVinsIoio, the second brother of Governor 
Winslow, was at Plymouth before 1633. He married 
Helen, daughter of John Adams, of Plymouth, in 1634 ; 
he had lands in Yarmouth, in 1640, died whilst on a visit 
at Salem, and was buried Sept. 13, 1672, at the age of 
73. f From him are descended the families settled in 
Yarmouth, and in Maine. Oliver Winslow, who set- 
tled at Scituate, in 1730, was of the third generation 
from Kenelm Winslow, and had a son Oliver, who was 
killed in the French war of 1758, a son who settled at 
Nobleborough, Maine, and a son Nathaniel, who inherit- 
ed the bold spirit of his distinguished ancestors. He 
entered the revolutionary army in 1776, rose to the rank 
of major, and distinguished himself in the southern ex- 
peditions.! 

Gilbert Winslow , third brother of the governor, came 
over in the Mayflower; went to Pascataqua, after the set- 
tlement was commenced there; and the tradition is, that 
he went from thence to England, and never returned. 
It does not appear that he left any family in New 
Hampshire. The only taxable person beartng the name 
of Winslow, resident in that province in 1732, was Sam- 
uel Winslow of Kingston, probably a son of Samuel 

• Thacher's Hist. Plymouth, 94. 
t Marahfield Records. 
t Deane'8 Scituate, 390 

18 



138 EDWARD WINSLOW. 

Winslow, who was killed by the Indians at that place in 
1710. 

Josiah, the youngest brother of the first Governor 
Winslow, resided in Scituate in 1637, and was after- 
wards of Marshfield. He died in 1674, aged 69. 

Of the sisters of Governor Winslow, Ehzabeth died 
in January, 1604, and neither of them ever came to New 
England.* 

A fine portrait of Governor Edward Winslow is in 
possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society, where 
other family pictures have been deposited by one of his 
descendants. The picture of Governor Winslow was 
painted in London, in 1651, when he was in the 57th 
year of his age. 

The device on the seal used by Governor Winslow, 
represents a pelican feeding its young. As an emblem 
of paternal affection, it is placed in connection with the 
names of some of the most distinguished of the pilgrims, 
whose regard for posterity prompted to their great en- 
terprise, and influenced them to a firm endurance of many 
hardships, dangers and sorrows. f 

* For additional genealogical notes, see Memoir of Josiah Winslow, in the 
subsequent pages of this volume. 

i Davis' note to Morton, 468. 



39 



IV. THOMAS PRENCE. 

The fourth governor of the colony of New Plymouth, 
was Thomas Prence, who was a native of Lechlade, a 
small parish in Gloucestershire, England, on the north 
side of the river Thames, where his father and grand- 
father resided. He was born in the year 1600. His 
father was of the proscribed sect of the puritans, or sepa- 
ratists from the Church of England, and to avoid the per- 
secution which every where followed the non-conform- 
ists,*in his native land, he is supposed to have gone with 
the early emigrants to Leyden. We have no accounts of 
the family after reaching that city, or of the education, or 
early pursuits of Mr. Prence. But from the fact that he 
brought a respectable patrimony to America, we are led to 
infer that his family were in easy circumstances, and that 
they were voluntary exiles, on account of a faith which 
was dear to them, rather than needy adventurers, seeking 
to mend their fortunes in a strange land. 

Mr. Prence came to America in 1621, in the ship 
Fortune, which arrived at New Plymouth in November, 
being at that time in the twenty-second year of his age. 
In the same ship, beside others of note in their day, 
came Robert Cushman, the distinguished and always effi- 
cient friend of the colony ; John Winslow, the elder 
brother of Governor Winslow ; and William Hilton, who 
afterwards commenced the settlement of New Hamp- 
shire, and who wrote by the return of the Fortune a 
glowing account of New Plymouth, in which he says, 
exultingly, "We are all freeholders; the rent-day doth 



140 THOMAS PRENCE. 

not trouble us ; and all those good blessings we have, of 
which and what we list in their seasons for taking."* 
In a short time after his arrival, Mr. Prence was chosen 
one of the assistants, and became an active and ulti- 
mately an influential man in the affairs of the colony. 

Public office in the days of the pilgrims, was little 
sought after. It presented neither a prize to tempt the 
cupidity of the unworthy, nor a source of corruption 
from any patronage attached to it. The unworthy were 
thus kept from seeking it, and the people were unwil- 
ling to trust any but the wisest and best men. Governor 
Bradford, who had served the colony from 1621 to 1632, 
esteemed it a mark of the popular favor to be relived 
in the following year, and when Winslow, who suc- 
ceeded him, declined a re-election in 1634, he again 
urged the choice of another than himself. But who 
should be the man ? Carver, and Bradford, and 
Winslow, had successively filled the office. The next 
upon the list of the first-comers by the Mayflower, was 
the venerable William Brewster; but he was the 
ruling elder of the church, and civil and ecclesiastical 
offices were among the puritans deemed incompatible. 
Isaac Allertojv, who by his character and standing was 
well fitted for the chief magistracy, had left the colony. 
The excellent Samuel Fuller, their first physician, with 
twenty-three more of the forty-one who signed the 
Compact of 1620, had fallen before the pestilence; and of 
those who remained, Stephen Hopkins, Miles Stan- 
dish, and John Alden, were the most prominent 
individuals. Hopkins was then one of the principal 

• See Hilton's Letter, in Smith's "New England's Trials," No. 2, Vol. II, 
Force's Collection of Tracts. 



THOMAS PRENCE. 141 

magistrates; and Alden seems, like him, to have been 
content with the burthens of the same office, which he 
shared for more than forty years, oudiving all the other 
signers of the compact. Captain Standish, the hero of 
the setUement, was beginning to feel the infirmities of age, 
and possessed a temper too natural to his profession to 
fit him for the duties of the chief magistracy. 

The Fortune had brought a new accession of esti- 
mable men to the colony, who were received with wel- 
come, and the standing and qualifications of Mr. Prence, 
caused him to be selected from among their number, as 
the successor of Governor Winslow, in 1634. 

Previous to this time, setdements had been formed 
at Duxbury, to which the families of Alden, Standish, 
and Collier, had removed; and before the year 1635, 
Mr. Prence appears to have removed to the same place. 
The regulation existing at this time required that the 
Governor should reside in Plymouth, and the people, 
when the next election took place, returned to their old 
favorite. Governor Bradford. Mr. Prence was however 
at the same time chosen assistant, and served as such 
during twenty years, when not filling other and more im- 
portant offices. 

The colony of New Plymouth at this time possessed 
trading establishments upon the Connecticut and Kenne- 
beck, which were sources of profit, but they not unfre- 
quently caused embarrassment and collision. A short 
time after Governor Prence entered upon his office, he 
was annoyed by intelligence of violent proceedings at 
both these points. A man of the name of Stone, a West 
Indian of St. Christopher's, by intoxicating the Gover- 
nor of the Dutch fort on Connecticut river, obtained his 



142 THOMAS PRENCE. 

leave to take a Plymouth bark^ which was lying there 
at anchor. The master and most of the men being on 
shore, he succeededj and after weighing her anchor set 
sail for Virginia, but some Dutch sailors, who had received 
kind treatment at Plymouth, discovering his design, 
pursued him with two vessels, and soon after recaptured 
the bark. 

Stone afterwards going to Massachusetts, was served 
with a process, and for the purpose of a compromise, he 
went to Plymouth. In a dispute with the governor, he 
was so transported with rage that he attempted to stab 
him, but was prevented by the vigilance of the gov- 
ernor's attendants. 

An act of violence was also perpetrated at Kennebeck, 
within the limits of the Plymouth patent. A pinnace 
belonging to Lord Say and Sele, and commanded by 
one Hocking, sailed from Pascataqua into the Kennebeck, 
and he attempted to pass up the river for the purpose of 
trading with the natives. Two of the magistrates of Ply- 
mouth being there, forbade him ; he persisted, and 
declaring that " he would go up and trade with the 
natives in despite of them, and lye there as long as he 
pleased," went on. 

The Plymouth men pursued him in a boat, and after 
entreating him to depart, and receiving nothing but " ill 
words " and positive refusals, finding his pinnace at 
anchor, two of them went in a canoe, cut one of the ca- 
bles, and attempted to cut the other; Hocking threatened 
to shoot them; they defied him, and persisted; he fired, 
and killed one. The pinnace having come up, with five 
or six men on board, they fired on Hocking and killed 
him. 



THOMAS PRENCE. 143 

At the general court at Boston, (May 15, 1634,) up- 
on complaint of a kinsman of Hocking, John Alden, 
one of the Plymouth magistrates, who was present at this 
transaction, but at that time in Boston, was arrested an d 
held to bail, "and withal (says Governor Winthrop) 
we wrote to Plymouth to certify them what we had done, 
and to know whether they would do justice in the cause, 
(as belonging to their jurisdiction,) and to have a speedy 
answer," Slc. 

This was a high handed transaction on the part of 
the authorities of Massachusetts, and naturally caused 
much excitement among the people of Plymouth. Gov- 
ernors Bradford and Winslow, Mr. Collier, and the pastor 
of the church, were obliged to go to Boston and hold 
conferences with the authorities there, before the diffi- 
culty could be adjusted. Governors Winthrop and 
Dudley appear to have interested themselves in the 
exculpation of Plymouth, and the indignity offered 
to this colony by the illegal arrest of one of her 
magistrates, was overlooked, and soon forgotten. The 
power of the younger colony, which was destined ulti- 
mately to swallow up the older, was already beginning 
to be felt. 

Prior to the year 1634, although the governor and 
assistants were the only magistrates in the colony, it does 
not appear that they possessed the power of a judicial 
court. They had no jurisdiction in civil actions, and in 
criminal offences, they could only ^ bind over' the accused 
to appear at the general court. In 1633, a few laws, 
such only as appeared to be of the most urgent necessity, 
were established. But as the settlements expanded, it 
soon became obvious, that a code of laws must be adopt- 



144 THOMAS PRENCE. 

ed; and the year 1636, may be considered the date of 
the establishment of a body of organic laws in New 
Plymouth. 

On the 15th of November, at a court of Associates, 
the following declaration was ordered : 

" We, the associates of New Plymouth, coming hither 
as free-born subjects of the State of England, and en- 
dowed with all and singular the privileges belonging to 
such, being assembled, do ordain that no act, imposition, 
law, or ordinance, be made or imposed upon us, at the 
present, or to come, but such as shall be made and im- 
posed by consent of the body of the associates, or their 
representatives legally assembled, which is according to 
the liberties of the state of England." 

Whether the laws of England which preceded this 
order were renounced, is equivocal ; but the authority of 
English laws, " at present, or to come," was by this de- 
claration renounced by the whole body of the associates, 
and Parliament was denied the right of legislating for 
New Plymouth. This order, (saysBayhes,) is the first 
American Declaration of Rights, if not of Independence, 
and the laws which followed, became necessary for the 
protection of the people and the preservation of the gov- 
ernment.* 

The time of the annual election was fixed for the 
first Tuesday of June, when a governor and seven as- 
sistants should be chosen, " to rule and govern the plan- 
tation within the limits of this corporation," and the 
election was confined to those, who had been admitted as 
freemen. The qualifications required to constitute a 
freeman, were, to be twenty-one years of age, of sober 

• Bayliea' Hist. New Plymouth, i. 229. 



THOMAS 1»11E.\CE. 145 

and peaceable conversation, orthodox in the fundamen- 
tals of religion, and to possess a rateable estate of the 
value of twenty pounds. All these were pre-requisites, 
before any person could be admitted to the oath pro- 
scribed to be taken by freemen. 

The duties and powers of the governor, were de- 
fined by law; but the office seems to have given to the 
incumbent little more than the privilege of acting as 
chairman of the court of assistants, or of the general 
court — the honorary station of being the official head 
of political society. lie was destitute of the power of 
appointing any of the officers of the government, or even 
of nominating them; and of course he had no patronage, 
or any mode of securing influence, excepting what arose 
from the weight of his personal character. He could 
call the assistants together, for the purpose of advising 
with them in council, and in voting his voice was 
double; but the assistants could refer all matters to 
the general court, which the governor was obliged to 
summon if they required it, and his duty in that court 
was confined to the statement of the questions upon 
which they were to act. The power of arrest was giv- 
en to him, but no further than to restrain the offender, 
until his offence could be investigated, either by the 
court of assistants, or the general court. The power 
of examining suspicious persons, and of intercepting 
letters, was given, probably in consequence of the 
memorable attempt of Lyford and others to subvert the 
government of the colony in 1624.* It can scarcely be 
conceived, at this day, how a government could be ad- 
ministered with such limited authority in the executive. 

* See page 85, of this volume, 

19 



146 THOMAS PRENCE. 

The personal influence of the governor must have sup- 
phed the want of legal power. 

The want of power in the governor, was not sup- 
plied by the greater powers of the assistants. They 
were to advise the governor, and were restrained from 
'betraying council.' They presided in the examina- 
tion of offenders in public court, ^ and had a voice in 
censuring.' One of them, by the consent of the others, 
on the nomination of the governor, could discharge the 
executive duties in his absence, and their power of arrest 
was similar to that of the governor. 

Within this narrow circle was confined the authority 
of the assistants. In a factious society, this power would 
have been constantly defied and contemned ; but the col- 
onists were a sober, moral, and religious, in fact, a well 
regulated family, loving and obeying their magistrates, 
with an affection and reverence like that which children 
render to their parents ; and the influence of the clergy 
was a powerful support to this paternal government, 
which depended so litde on physical strength, and so 
much on the moral force of opinion.* 

Prior to the year 1636, there appears to have been 
no secretary to the colony, and the records were kept 
by the governor. The code adopted at that period 
was preceded by the declaration, before referred to,t 
styled " General Fundamentals" in the records. A certi- 
ficate signed in Dec. 1775, by John Cotton, the recorder 
at Plymouth, referring to this declaration, says — " The 
above act stands in front of three manuscript law books, in 
1636, 1658, and 1660, and of two printed ones, in 1671 

• See Baylies, i. 229—235. 

f See pages 76 and 118, oi this volume. 



THOMAS PRENCE. 147 

and 16S5. In the year 1636, Plymouth colony first 
ibrmed or perfected then- body or code of laws, they 
being before governed by transient regulations or oc- 
casional laws."* To the manuscript book of 1636, other 
laws were added from time to time ; and when any of 
the former were altered or repealed, this was done by 
the simple process of making interlineations or erasures, 
instead of passing additional acts! In 1658, the laws 
were revised, and entered in another book, and they were 
published, not by printing, but by the preparation of 
copies in manuscript by the secretary, equal in number 
to the number of towns in the colony. Into this book 
the laws passed afterwards were copied, until 1664, 
when there appears to have been another revision, and 
a third book of laws was made, similar to the former. 
This contains all the laws passed from that time till 1682. 
The laws, which thus existed in three separate manu- 
script volumes, have been bound in one, and are preserv- 
ed. When the first printed edition was ordered in 
1671, another revision was made, but the manuscript of 
this no longer exists. f 

In 1637, Governor Prence was particularly active in 
raising a corps of volunteers to assist Connecticut and 
Massachusetts in the expedition against the Pequot In- 
dians, which resulted in the utter overthrow and exter- 
mination of that tribe. The names of thirty-nine men, 
who offered to go on that service, are on record, and the 
document has the following caption : " The names of 
the soldiers that willingly offer to go upon the service 

* Baldwin's sermon at Plymouth, Dec. 22, 1775. Hazard's Coli. of Pam- 
phlets, in Force's Library, Washington, D. C. 

t III Mass. Hist. Coll., ii. 265. 



148 THOMAS PRENCE. 

with Mr. Prence and the Lieutenant, voluntaries."* The 
Pequots were a warhke tribe, not inferior in courage to 
any in the New World. They inhabited the territory 
now occupied by the towns of New-London, Groton and 
Stonington, in Connecticut. Foreseeing the ultimate 
extinction of their race, from the advance of the English, 
this tribe, heretofore hostile to the Narragansetts, nOw 
proposed to join them in an effort to exterminate the 
whites. Fortunately for the colonists, the Narragansetts 
refused the alliance, and the Pequots, more exasperated 
than discouraged by their refusal, commenced hostilities 
alone. They surprised stragglers, and scalped them, and 
plundered and burnt the neighboring settlements — until 
the infant colonies, particularly Connecticut and Massa- 
chusetts, by a vigorous effort, succeeded in overpowering 
and destroying the tribe. The troops raised in Plymouth, 
fifty-six in number, were placed under the immediate 
command of Capt. Standish, but the war was over before 
they reached the scene of action. The Pequot nation 
had ceased to exist. 

In 1638, Mr. Prence was again elected to the ofRce 
of governor. It appears that he accepted the office with 
considerable reluctance, and made it a condition that he 
should not be compelled to remove from Duxbury. Dur- 
ing his administration, in that year, a severe and exem- 

* By "the Lieutenant," William Holmes is intended, afterwards promoted 
to the rank of major, who became a freeman of the colony in 1633, and was 
.ippointed in 1635, with Capt. Standish, to teach the Train bands of Plymouth 
and Duxbury. Major Holmes lived at Scituate, and died in 1649, without a 
family. He was the leader of the Plymouth party, who, in defiance of the 
Dutch authorities of New Amsterdam, took possession of the territory on Con- 
necticut river, and erected the first house in Connecticut, at Windsor, in Octo- 
ber, 1633. See page 113, of this volume; compare also Holmes, i. 228, and 
Trumbull, i. 35. 



THOMAS PRENCE. 149 

plary act of justice was cxliibited, in the condemnation 
of three colonists, for robbing and mortally wounding an 
Indian. 

It appears that four young men of Plymouth, who 
were servants, absconding from their masters, attacked a 
solitary Indian at Pawtucket, near Providence, but with- 
in the limits of New Plymouth, and after inflicting upon 
him a mortal wound, robbed him of a quantity of wam- 
pum, and fled to Providence. Complaint was made to 
Roger Williams, by the Indians, who were greatly alarm- 
ed, and he called upon the authorities to have "justice 
done." Roger Williams was particularly anxious that 
the natives should behold in the prompt and signal pun- 
ishment of these offenders, an example of the justice of 
the English, and Gov. Winthrop of Massachusetts, whose 
advice had been solicited, considered it a matter in which 
the whole country was interested. Governor Prence 
and the authorities of New Plymouth promptly institut- 
ed the necessary investigation. One of the criminals 
fled to Pascataqua, where he w^as protected, and finally 
escaped out of the country. The others were tried, con- 
demned, and executed, in presence of many of the natives, 
who had assembled at New Plymouth. This execution 
has been cited as an undeniable proof of the stern sense 
of duty which was cherished by the Pilgrims. To put 
three Englishmen to death for the murder of an Indian, 
without compulsion, or without any apprehension of con- 
sequences, (for it does not appear that any application 
was made on the part of the Indians for the punishment 
of the murderers,) denotes a rigor in the administration 
of justice, unusual in new settlements, especially in con- 
troversies with the natives. It stands in our annals with- 



150 THOMAS PRENCE. 

out a parallel instance ; the truth of the fact is vouched 
by all our early historians, and it was probably not with- 
out its reward ; for the Indians, convinced of the justice 
of the Englishj abstained from all attempts to avenge 
their personal wrongs, by their own acts, for many 
years. 

In 1643, we find Mr. Prence actively engaged in pro- 
moting a new settlement at Nauset, or Eastham. Eight 
towns had been settled within the limits of the colony 
during the first twenty years, but Nauset, now thought to 
be a very favorable spot, had been overlooked. The 
people of Plymouth became alarmed at these frequent 
removals from among them. Many persons had already 
left the town, and now, when others of the most respecta- 
ble among them desired to remove, it became a serious 
question with the church, whether it were not better 
for the whole body to remove at once to another place, 
than thus to be weakened and insensibly dissolved. Meet- 
ing after meeting was held, and, after much controversy, 
it was finally agreed by the whole body that they would 
remove together, on condition that they could find a 
place sufficient for their accommodation. 

A committee, at the head of which was Mr. Prence, 
was now sent to Nauset, to make examination. Their 
report was against the feasibility of removing to that place. 
They purchased, however, the contiguous lands, belong- 
ing to the natives ; and the Plymouth people finally gave 
up the project of removing the seat of government, and 
consented that those who desired to begin a plantation 
at Nauset, should be permitted to do so. Mr. Prence 
and his associates now obtained a grant of lands at Nau- 
set, and went resolutely forward with their new planta- 



THOMAS PRENCE. 151 

tion. These persons were among the Inost respectable 
inhabitants of Plymouth. The church regretted their 
departure, viewing herself as a mother grown old and for- 
saken by her children, if not in their affections, yet in 
their company and personal assistance.* But however 
the emigration might have been lamented at that time, it 
w^as productive of good to the colony ; and eventually led 
to the settlement of all the lower part of the county of 
Barnstable ; in consequence of which the Indians there, 
who from their numbers were a formidable body, were 
overawed and their good will obtained, and they were 
prevented from joining in hostilities against the Eng- 
lish, in the wars which afterward occurred. 

In 1654, Mr. Prence, then one of the board of assist- 
ants, went to the settlement which had been formed on 
the Kennebeck patent,- and, under authority of parliament, 
pursuant to directions of the court at New Plymouth, 
organized a government, Thomas Southworth, son-in- 
law of Governor Bradford, being appointed agent or 
governor. He summoned a meeting of the inhabitants 
at Merry-Meeting Bay, and some sixteen persons attend- 
ed and subscribed the oath of fidelity to the government 
of New Plymouth. f Seven years afterwards, the colony 
disposed of this patent to a private company for four hun- 
dred pounds sterling.! 

* " And thus was this poor Church lefl like an ancient mother, grown 
old and forsaken of her children, though not in their affections, yet in regard 
of their bodily presence and personal helpfulness, her ancient members being 
most of them worn away by death, and those of latter times being like children 
translated into other families, and she like a widow left alone to trust in God. 
Thus she that had made many rich became herself poor." — riymouth Church 
Records, i. 43. 

f Hazard's Coll. i. 583— 5SG. 

t See p. 133, of this volume. 



152 THOMAS PRENCE. 

On the dealU of Governor Bradford^ in 1657, Mr. 
Prence was chosen his successor. There seemed to be 
an obvious propriety in this selection. Mr. Prence had 
held that office as early as 1634, and once afterwards, 
and had been constantly in public employment. No one 
stood before him in the public estimation, excepting per- 
haps, Bradford and Edward Winslow, and with them he 
certainly appears to have shared the confidence of the peo- 
ple, and the highest offices of the government. As both 
these respectable men were now deceased, there could 
have been but little hesitation in giving him the station 
of which he was not deemed unworthy, when they were 
living. He was accordingly annually chosen to the 
chief magistracy, from this time forward, for sixteen 
years, until his death, which occurred in 1673. 

The law, as has already been stated, required the gov- 
ernor to reside at Plymouth; but there was a special dis- 
pensation made in favor of Governor Prence until the 
year 1665. In October of that year, ^^the country saw 
reason to desire and request his removal into the town, 
for the more convenient administration of justice." Gov. 
Prence now removed to Plymouth, and took possession 
of a place, provided for him by the government, which 
he occupied until his death. It was nearly two miles 
from the centre of the town, on the road leading towards 
Boston — and was called Plaiyi- Dealing, the former resi- 
dence of John Winslow, and afterwards of Edward Gray, 
of whom it had been purchased by the colony. The 
governor's salary was at the same time established at 
fifty pounds per annum, and it was stipulated that he 
should receive that sum annually as long as he continued 
to be governor of the colony. 



THOMAS PRENCE. 153 

Governor Prence was not altogether happy in his 
administration of the government. The severe proceed- 
ings against sectaries, especially against the Quakers, 
which were favored by him, and in which his conduct 
was intolerant, and in some instances overbearing, creat- 
ed dissatisfiiction even amongst those who were hostile 
to the introduction of new sects. Governor Prence 
himself, in temper and spirit, more closely resembled 
tlie stern puritans who settled upon the Bay of Massa- 
chusetts, than his predecessors in the government of 
Plymouth. He saw with dread and misgiving the in- 
creasing indifference of the people to the support of the 
clergy. He knew that before the death of Governor 
Bradford, that venerable man had spoken of it with 
apprehension. He had endeavored, with Winslow, 
ten years before, to check the growing influence of the 
new sects among the deputies, and the people. Men 
began to doubt the benefit of stated preaching, and chose 
to exercise their own spiritual gifts ; and so inadequate 
was the support given to the clergy, that many left the 
colony. Gorton's extravagances had excited disgust; 
and now when the Quakers, whose tenets and practices 
bore some resemblance to his, began to appear, a large 
majority of the people were ready to adopt the severe 
policy pursued in Massachusetts, which was now advo- 
cated by Governor Prence. 

There were still influential men in the colony who 
were open friends of toleration, and had the nerve to op- 
pose the popular current. James Cudworth and Thomas 
Hatherly, two of the assistants, whose views were in 
advance of the age, objected to the persecution of the 
Quakers. They were at once proscribed and omitted 
20 



154 THOMAS PRENCE. 

from the magistracy; and in 1659, when the people of 
Scituate returned General Cud worth as a deputy to the 
general court, such was the bigotry of the majority, that 
they unceremoniously denied him a seat.* 

In a letter, written in 1658, General Cudworth thus 
describes the state of public feeling at that time exist- 
ing in the colony : '' The state and condition of things 
amongst us is sad, and so like to continue. The anti- 
christian, persecuting spirit is very active, and that in 
the powers of this world. He that will not lash, punish 
and persecute men that differ in matters of religion, 
must not sit on the bench, nor sustain any office in the 
commonwealth. Last election, Mr. Hatherly and my- 
self were left off the bench, and myself discharged of my 
Captainship, because I had entertained some of the 
Quakers at my house, thereby that I might be better 
acquainted with their principles. I thought it better to 

* Gen. Cudworth, who was one of the most estimable men in the colony, 
came from England in 1632, settled at Scituate, where he was chosen a deputy 
in 1649, and for several succeeding years. In 1656, he was chosen assistant, in 
which office he continued until displaced as above stated. On the election of 
Governor Josiah Winslow, in 1673, he endeavored and with success, to make 
honorable amends for the abuse and neglect which Cudworth had suffered from 
his predecessor, Gov. Prence. In tlie colony records, July 1673, is an entry, that 
♦' Capt. Cudworth, by a full and clear vote, is accepted and re-established, in the 
association and body of this Commonwealth." He was chosen an assistant 
again from 1674, to 16S0, inclusively. In 1675, he was chosen " General and 
Commander in Chief of all the forces that are or may be sent forth against 
the enemy," and he continued in that place until Philip's war was ended. 
In 1681, he was appointed an agent for the colony to England. He was also 
Deputy Governor the same year. On his arrival in London in the autumn of 
1682, he unfortunately took the small pox, of which he died. 

Mr. Hatherly was originally from Devonshire, afterwards a merchant of 
London, and came to Plymouth in the ship Anne in 1623. He became a great 
landholder, wasone of the founders of Scituate, and was among the most enter- 
prising men of the Colony. He was an assistant thirteen 3'ears, treasurer of 
the colony, and one of the commissioners of the United Colonies. He died in 
1666, without issue. 



THOMAS PRENCE. 155 

do sOj than with the bhnd world to censure^ condemn, 
rail at, and revile them, when they neither saw their 
persons, nor knew any of their principles. But the Qua- 
kers and myself cannot close, in divers things, and so 
I signified to the Court; but told them withal, that as I 
was no Quaker, so I would be no persecutor." 

The Quakers, who had endured persecution in Eng- 
land, appeared in this country in 1656, and immediately 
attracted the notice of the authorities. The leaders of 
the sect in New Plymouth were Humphrey Norton and 
John Rouse. They were turbulent men, violent in all 
their proceedings, and in a very short time provoked a 
persecution, which might not have followed, had their 
conduct been as wise and discreet as that of Penn and his 
followers in Pennsylvania. Severe laws were enacted 
against them, and enforced with the rigor characteristic 
of the times. 

In October, 1657, Norton was summoned before the 
court of magistrates, and being convicted of "divers 
horrid errors," was ordered to depart from the jurisdic- 
tion, and he was conducted by a marshal to the boundary 
of Rhode Island. But the spirit of these enthusiasts 
was not thus to be subdued. Norton returned not long 
afterwards, and was imprisoned. When arraigned before 
the governor, and charged with his offences against the 
laws, he said to the governor, "Thomas, thou liest! 
thou art a malicious man !" His companion Rouse being 
equally turbulent, they were both sentenced to be whip- 
ped. The punishment was inflicted, when, after another 
short imprisonment, they left the colony. Others of 
the sect were banished, but no one suffered death, as in 
the neighboring colony of Massachusetts. 



156 THOMAS PRENCE. 

Norton had offered a written paper to the governor, 
which he refused to receive. Smarting under a sense 
of the severity and cruelty with which he had been 
treated, he addressed letters to Governor Prence and to 
Mr. Alden, who was one of the assistants, in which he 
vented his resentment, in strains approaching to elo- 
quence, and claimed to be a prophet, a delusion which he 
probably cherished in all sincerity. A portion of the 
letter to the governor, here follows : 

" Thomas Prence, thou who hast bent thy heart to 
work wickedness,* and with thy tongue hast set forth 
deceit; thou imaginest mischief upon thy bed, and 
hatchest thy hatred in thy secret chamber ; the strength 
of darkness is over thee, and a malicious mouth hast 
thou opened against God and his anointed, and with thy 
tongue and lips hast thou uttered perverse things ; thou^ 
hast slandered the innocent by railing, lying, and false 
accusations, and with thy barbarous heart hast thou caused 
their blood to be shed. Thou hast through these things 
broken and transgressed the laws and ways of God, and 
equity is not before thy eyes ; the curse causeless can- 
not come upon thee, nor the vengeance of God unjustly 
cannot fetch thee up ; thou makest thyself merry with 
thy secret malice, and when thou actest or executest it, 
it is in derision and scorn. The deadly drink of the 
cup of indignation thou cannot escape, and the grief and 
cause of travail will not be greater than thine. Since 
first I saw thee, and before, thy false and lying tongue 
hath been forged against me. I shall not write nor speak 
this without ground, as thou hast done by me, but 
plainly shall present thy doings before thy face ; as firstly, 
thy former warrant was forged upon a filthy lie, and 



THOMAS PRENCE. 157 

therein thou titlest me an extravagant person ; thy sec- 
ond had helping hand in causing mc to be recorded lor 
several errors, and like a shameless man would neither 
acknowledge nor deny ; thy third, that John Rouse and I 
were inordinate fellows, and never in the least made it ap- 
pear wherein ; thy fourth that I intended within two days 
after the time thou spake it, to make a preachment, as 
thou in thy derision called it thereaways ; thy fifth, thy 
promise that I should have the law, and afterwards went 
about to deny it, so as from thee I never had it yet ; thy 
sixth, popish and Jesuitical names, withal thy lying slan- 
ders and false aspersions cast upon us from thy clamor- 
ous tongue ; thy seventh, acting contrary to law, equity 
and justice, and judgment, according to the evil of thine 
own heart, — all these art thou guilty of, besides the de- 
nying of my paper, which was presented to thee, contain- 
ing part of my grounds of my coming ; thy eighth, thy 
striving to dash my words back upon me, and to hinder 
me to speak in the people's hearing, striving what thou 
could to stain the truth of God with thy envious tongue, all 
which things are charged upon thy head, and as a peal of 
hail stones will pelt upon thy heart; thou hast perverted 
justice and true judgment, and hast defrauded the poor 
and needy ; thou hast caused to defraud the righteous 
owner of his goods, and art heaping it up as upon a hill, 
wherewith thou wilt purchase to thyself and others a 
field of blood, wherein to bury your dead. John Alden 
is to thee like unto a packhorse, whereupon thou layest 
thy beastly bag ; cursed are all they that have a hand 
therein ; the cry of vengeance will pursue thee day and 
night, for other men's goods, hard speeches, unrighteous 
actions, which thou hast done and spoken against others 



158 THOMAS PRENCE. 

and uSj without and contrary to the righteous law ; so 
shall rest upon thee as frontlets upon thy head^ and as 
we have suffered without law^, so shalt thou perish with- 
out law^ if thou repent not. The days of thy wailing 
will be like unto that of a woman that murthers the fruit 
of her womb; the anguish and pain that will enter thy 
reins will be like gnawing worms lodging betwixt thy 
heart and liver. When these things come upon thee, 
and thy back bowed down with pain, in that day and 
hour thou shalt know to thy grief that prophets of the 
Lord God we are, and the God of vengeance is our God. 

^^ Humphrey Norton." 
Language of extreme bitterness like this, however it 
may have been provoked by persecution, was not likely 
to soften the hearts of those in power; and during 
the year 1658, several disfranchising laws were passed 
against the Quakers. ^^ No Quaker, Ranter, or any such 
corrupt person," was permitted to be a freeman of the 
corporation. All such as were opposers to the good and 
wholesome laws of the colony, or manifest opposers 
of the true worship of God, or such as refused to do the 
country service, being called thereunto, on conviction, 
were denied the privileges of freemen. Any freemen 
of the corporation being Quakers, or such as were mani- 
fest encouragers of them, and so judged by the court; 
and such as spoke contemptuously of the court and the 
laws; and such as were adjudged by the court, "grossly 
scandalous, as lyers, drunkards, and swearers," &c. were 
to lose the freedom of the corporation. All such as re- 
fused to take the oath of fidelity, as Quakers, and their 
abettors, were denied a vote in the choice of public offi- 
cers, and were restricted from holding offices of trust. 



THOMAS PRENCE. 159 

The court also passed another'law, with this pregnant 
preamble: "Whereas sundry persons, both Quakers and 
others, wander up and down in this jurisdiction, and fol- 
low no lawful calling, to earn their bread, and also do 
use all endeavours to subvert the civil state, and pull down 
all churches and ordinances of God, to thrust us out of the 
ways of God, notwithstanding all former laws provided 
for the contrary:" 

The court therefore directed, that a work-house or 
house of correction should be erected, " for the restraint 
of all such vagabonds as wander up and down without 
any lawful calling, and also all idle persons, or rebellious 
children, or servants that are stubborn and will not work, 
to earn their own bread, and yet have not wherewith 
to maintain themselves," &,c. 

Much censure has been thrown upon the govern- 
ment of Plymouth, for the severity of these laws, and 
the cruelty of the punishments which were inflicted on 
the Quakers. They were severe beyond what the 
necessity of the case required, and were enforced with 
rigor. But the task of palliation, in this case, is not 
very diflicult, however difficult it might be to find 
grounds for a full justification. The circumstances of 
the times, and the spirit of the age, should be considered 
in pronouncing judgment upon these dark passages in 
the history of New Plymouth. 

The Quakers who first appeared in the colony, were 
not inhabitants of the country. They came from abroad, 
originally from England, but immediately from Barba- 
does. Although they professed to inculcate the principles 
of peace and benevolence, tlu'v ^vaged a most furious 
war against a religion, which was much endeared to the 



160 THOMAS PRENCE. 

people whom t?iey were endeavoring to proselyte ; for 
which that people had suffered much^ and who were 
ready to suffer much more, if necessary, to attest their 
strong conviction of its truth. Their laws, their govern- 
ment, their forms of worship, all which they had been 
taught to venerate, and were accustomed to love, were 
denounced in harsh and vulgar terms, by utter stran- 
gers. Their magistrates were openly insulted, and their 
ministers were reviled, in language of insolent abuse. 
It is not surprising, therefore, that they should have 
attempted to check what appeared to them to be blas- 
phemy and impiety. Although these new expounders 
of the scriptures styled themselves the Prophets of God, 
yet it was not an unnatural nor strange result in that 
day, that they should have been regarded by those among 
whom they came, as men " possessed with demons." 

It is very probable, that the deportment of Gov- 
ernor Prence towards Norton, was domineering and 
arrogant; for he was a man who detested schismatics 
of every shade, and had no particular sympathy for those 
who affected to despise and deride all '^ human learn- 
ing." Yet one far more indulgent than he was, placed 
in the same situation, would have been himself possessed 
of uncommon self-command, if he could have tolerated 
personal insult, and tamely suffered himself to be charged 
with falsehood and malice, while in the very exercise of 
his high authority on the judgment seat, and presiding 
in court. Even in our own times, under a much more 
tolerant system, and with a mitigated penal code, " con- 
tempt of court," is deemed a high offence, and is pun- 
ished accordingly .^^Still it is better that the hands of 
power should fall gently on all enthusiasts in morals or 




THOMAS PKEJVCE. 161 

religion, and on any who make pretence — even if it be 
nothing but pretence — of aciing under the strong impulses 
of religious feeling. The Pope of Rome, when he dis- 
missed the too zealous Quaker without injury, who even 
within the walls of the Vatican denounced him as the 
" Man of Sin," and as '' the Antichrist," acted wisely, 
by choosing to consider this effusion of zeal, as an out- 
pouring of insanity ; and, intolerant as he was to reli- 
gious heresy, he could be charged with no want of in- 
dulgence to human infirmity. 

It has been observed, that the tolerant spirit which 
ruled in the councils of Rhode Island, gave offence to 
the other colonies. It was, beyond a doubt, the main 
cause of her exclusion from the league of 1643. After 
the Quakers had begun to flee to that colony, as a " city 
of refuge," the commissioners of the United Colonies 
requested the government of Rhode Island to prohibit 
the Quakers coming into that colony, and to expel those 
who were already there. Governor Prence, at that time 
a commissioner, joined in this arrogant request, the only 
commissioner who refused his assent being General 
Cudworth of Scituate. The answer of the government 
of Rhode Island, is in admirable spirit. "As concerning 
these Quakers, (say they,) which are now among us, 
we have no law among us w^hereby to punish any for 
only declaring by words, &c., their minds and under- 
standings concerning the things and ways of God, as to 
salvation and an eternal condition. And we moreover 
find, that in those places where these people in this 
colony are most of all suffered to declare themselves 
freely, and are only opposed by arguments in discourse, 
there they least of all desire to come." 
21 



162 THOMAS PRENCE. 

In 1658;, the exasperation had increased to such a 
degree, that the commissioners recommended to the colo- 
nies the punishment of death against all of that ^^ cursed 
set of heretics/' who should be found in the country 
after sentence of banishment. A panic seized the good 
people of the colony, and further oppressive laws were 
enacted against the Quakers; but fortunately the manda- 
mus of Charles II., in 1661, finally put an end to their 
persecutions in New England. The most obnoxious 
laws against them were soon afterwards repealed. 

Public prejudice during all this time had prevailed 
to such a degree in New Plymouth as to exclude from 
her councils some of the best citizens in the colony, who 
had been honest and bold enough to encounter it; but 
upon the accession of the second Governor Winslow, 
these men were promptly restored to public trusts, and 
regained the general confidence. The Quakers them- 
selves, hitherto so turbulent, when left unmolested by 
penal regulations, settled down into a quiet, orderly life, 
and became the most peaceful, industrious and moral of 
all religious sects. 

Beside the difficulties already stated, which Governor 
Prence had to encounter, he also met with serious em- 
barrassments from the hostile feeling, which was increas- 
ing among the Indians. The demise of the great and 
good sachem Massasoit; the accession of his son Alex- 
ander, and his early death, under circumstances causing 
great excitement and apprehension; the movements of 
the warHke and resolute Philip, and the decisive meas- 
ures, which it became necessary to take with the Squaw 
Sachem of Pocasset, and the heads of other Indian tribes, 
more or less under the influence of Philip, required the 



f 



THOMAS PK£NC£. 163 

most constant vigilance and attention, on the part of the 
government. 

After the death of jNIassasoit, his two sons, Wamsutta 
and Metacomet, appeared before the court at Plymouth, 
and requested that English names might be given them. 
Governor Prence gave to Wamsutta the name of Alex- 
ander, and to IMetacomet, that of Philip. In 1662, Gov- 
ernor Prence received information, by letters, from Bos- 
ton, that Alexander was contriving mischief against the 
English, and that he had solicited the Narragansetts to 
engage in his hostile enterprises, denominated, by the 
writers of that period, " a designated rebellion." Capt. 
Willett, who lived near Mount Hope, was appointed to 
confer with Alexander, and to request his attendance 
at the next court at Plymouth, to explain his proceedings. 
From his conversation with Capt. Willett, his appearance 
at court was expected. He did not attend, however, 
but still continuing his intercourse with the Narragan- 
setts, the government of Plymouth directed Major Josiah 
Winslow, to bring him before them by force. Major 
Winslow immediately proceeded, with ten men, to exe- 
cute his instructions. On his way from Marshfield to 
Mount Hope, he unexpectedly found Alexander at his 
hunting house, about half way between Plymouth and 
Bridgewater. He had with him a number of his men, 
(Hubbard says, eighty,) well armed. Major Winslow, it 
appears, came upon the party by surprise, and having 
secured their arms, which were without doors, entered 
the wigwam, and communicated his instructions. "The 
proud Sachem," says Dr. I. Mather, ^^ fell into a raging 
passion, at this surprise, saying that the Governor had 
no reason to credit rumors, or to send for him in such a 



164 THOMAS PRENCE. 

way, nor would he go to Plymouth but when he saw 
cause." By the advice of his interpreter, a brother of 
John Sausaman, he was prevailed upon to submit. It 
was a warm summer day, and the Major kindly offered 
his prisoner the use of a horse ; but his squaw and sever- 
al other Indian women, being of the party, who could 
not be furnished with horses, Alexander politely declin- 
ed the offer, observing, that he could go on foot as well 
as they, only entreating that they might march with a 
slow pace, to accommodate the women. In this request 
he was indulged ; and Major Winslow treated his royal 
prisoner with every attention, consistent with the object 
lie was required to accomplish. It was necessary to 
wait, until Governor Prence could be informed of the 
circumstances, and should arrive at Plymouth, from 
Eastham, where he then resided. The prisoner in the 
mean time was taken to the Major's house, at Marshfield, 
and was there courteously entertained. But the high 
spirit of the savage king could not brook the affront. 
" Vexing and fretting in his spirit," says Dr. Mather, 
" that such a check w^as given him, he suddenly fell sick 
of a fever." Every proper humane attention appears to 
have been afforded him in his sickness. He was nursed 
as a choice friend, and Dr. Fuller, a neighboring physi- 
cian, prescribed for his relief. 

His disease continuing, the Indians, in his train, en- 
treated that he might be dismissed ; and their request was 
finally granted, upon his engagement to appear at the 
next court ; but he soon after died, Hubbard says, " be- 
fore he got half way home." 

There can be no doubt that the surprisal of Alexan- 
der, followed as it was by his sudden death, greatly 



THOMAS PRENCE. 165 

incensed the Indians ; and an examination of all the 
facts disclosed in the case, will justify the received opin- 
ion, that, from the- hour of Alexander's death, the hearts 
of his warriors were steeled against the English. The 
account of the transaction which we have here given, is 
almost in the words of Mather and Hubbard, who wrote 
at the same time. It presents the conduct of the Ply- 
mouth authorities in an unenviable light; for at the time 
there seems to have been no evidence whatever of the hos- 
tile designs attributed to the successor of the great sachem 
of the Wampanoags, who had been so true a friend to 
the English. The seizure of Alexander was therefore an 
outrage, that might well wound the spirit of the savage 
king, and animate his successor with the purposes of 
revenge. Judge Davis, in his edition of Morton, presents 
a different view of the case, and one which would go to 
relieve the government of Plymouth from the harsh 
judgment to which previous accounts had given rise. 
It is contained in a letter from the Rev. John Cotton of 
Plymouth, to Dr. Increase Mather, without date, but 
probably written in 1677, and refers to the account 
which had been drawn up by the authorities of Ply- 
mouth, styled " JVarratwe de Jllexandro.^^* 

The letter begins, " Major Bradford [who was with 
Mr. Winslow when Alexander was surprised] confi- 
dently assures me, that in the JYarrative de Alexandro, 
there are many mistakes, and, fearing lest you should, 
through information, print some mistakes on that subject, 
from his mouth I this write. Reports being here that 
Alexander was plotting, or privy to plots, against the 
English, authority sent to him to come down. He 

" This Narrative, in manuscript, is in the library of the Mass. Hist. Society. 



166 THOMAS PRENCE. 

came not. Whereupon Major Winslow was sent to fetch 
him. Major Bradford with some others, went with him. 
At Munponset Riverj a place not many miles hence, 
they found Alexander with about eight m.en and sundry 
squaws. He was there about getting canoes. He and 
his men were at breakfast under their shelterj their guns 
being without. They saw the English coming, but con- 
tinued eating; and Mf. Winslow telling their business, 
Alexander, freely and readily, without the least hesitancy, 
consented to go, giving his reason why he came not to the 
court before, viz : because he waited for Capt. Willett's 
return from the Dutch, being desirous to speak with him 
first.* They brought him to Mr. Collier's that day, and 
Governor Prence living remote at Eastham, those few 
magistrates who were at hand issued the matter peacea- 
bly, and immediately dismissed Alexander to return 
home, which he did part of the way ; but, in two or 
three days after, he returned and went to Major Wins- 
low's house, intending thence to travel into the bay and 
so home ; but, at the major's house, he was taken very 
sick, and was, by water, conveyed to Mr. Bradford's, 
and thence carried u'pon the shoulders of his men to 
Tetehquet River, and thence in canoes home, and, about 
two or three days after, died."f 

• Capt. Thomas Willett, who is here referred to, was one of the Leyden Pil- 
grims ; came over in 1629; was an assistant from 1651 to 1665, when he re- 
moved to New York, and became the first English mayor of that city. Owning 
lands in the Narragansett country, he afterwards settled near Mount Hope, 
where he had much intercourse and influence with the Indians. He died at 
Barrington, R. I., 4 Aug. 1674, aged 64. Francis Willett, distinguished in 
Rhode Island, was his grandson, and Colonel Marinus Willett, of New York, 
a distinguished officer of the revolutionary war, and mayor of the city, was his 
descendant. 

t Davis' Morton, Appendix A. A. p. 425. See also Drake's Book of the 
Indians, b iii. c. 1 . 



tho:mas prence. 167 

After the death of Alexander, PhiHp his successor 
appeared at Plymouth, and renewed his professions of 
peace. But the great chieftain, foreseeing the inevitable 
fate of his race, unless the march of the white population 
could be arrested, was secretly nourishing his schemes 
of vengeance, which precipitated the terrible war of 
1675. A conviction on the part of Governor Prence, 
that such was in fact the deliberate purpose of the wily 
Philip, caused him to adopt the rigorous measures 
which have been noticed, and for which his wisdom and 
humanity have sometimes been called in question. In 
his belief, however, they were necessary to guard the 
colony from sudden war ; and we know that the terrible 
struggle did not ensue until after his death. 

The visit, from the Royal Commissioners, Nicolls, 
Carr, and others, in 1665, was also productive of much 
uneasiness in the colony, and not a little embarrassment 
to the authorities. IS^ew Plymouth was at this time the 
weakest of all the colonies ; but she nevertheless con- 
trived to hold on to her independence. The Com- 
missioners promised them a charter, if they would set 
an example of compliance, by allowing the King to select 
their governors; but the general court, after due deliber- 
ation, ^*with many thanks to the Commissioners, and great 
protestations of loyalty to the King, chose to be as they 
were." 

Governor Prence extended to these Commissioners 
a most cordial reception, as the authorized agents of the 
King, and so managed, by a little skillful courtesy, as 
to avoid giving them the offence which the proceedings 
in Massachusetts had occasioned. In the reports of the 
Commissioners, New Plymouth was consequently com- 



168 THOMAS PREJVCE. 

plimented for her loyalty, and was, not long after, pro- 
mised the especial favour of the King.* 

It appears from the report of the Commissioners to 
the King, that but " one plaint" was made to them at 
Plymouth, and that was, that "the governor would not 
let a man enjoy a farm of four miles square, which he 
had bought of an Indian." The fact, that no complaint 
should have been preferred, except this one against the 
governor, for exercising his power to prevent a wrong, 
discovers a degree of public confidence in the local 
government of this litde jurisdiction, which has rarely 
been equalled. To understand the grounds of the inter- 
ference of Governor Prence, in this case, it should be 
remembered, that in the treaty made with Massasoit in 
1621, and renewed with that sachem and his son Alexan- 
der, in 1639, the government of New Plymouth took the 
precaution to prevent the Indians from disposing of their 
lands to individuals. They foresaw that the practice, if 

* The King was so well pleased with the loyal tone of the people of New 
Plymouth, at this period, that he addressed them a letter couched in the follow- 
ing gracious terms: "Charles R. Trusty and well beloved, we greet you 
well. Having received so full and satisfactory an account from our commis- 
sioners, both of the good reception you have given them, and also of your du- 
tifulness and obedience to us : We cannot but let you know how much we are 
pleased therewith ; judging that respect of yours towards our officers, to be the 
true and natural fruit which demonstrates what fidelity and affection towards 
us is rooted in your hearts. And although your carriage doth of itself, most 
justly deserve our praise and approbation, yet it seems to be set off with the more 
lustre, by the contrary deportment of the colony of Massachusetts, as if, by 
their refractoriness, they had designed to recommend and heighten the merit 
of your compliance with our directions, for the peaceable and good government 
of our subjects in those parts. You may therefore assure yourselves, that we 
shall never be unmindful of this your loyal and dutiful behavior, but shall, 
upon all occasions, take notice of it to your advantage ; promising you our con- 
stant protection and royal favor, in all that may concern your safety, peace and 
welfare. And so we bid you farewell. Given at our court at Whitehall, the 
10th day of April, 1666, in the 18th year of our reign. By his Majesty's com- 
mand. fVill. Morrice." 



THOMAS PRENCE. 169 

allowed, would be attended with the most pernicious 
consequences; that it would lay the foundations for end- 
less lawsuits, and the Indians themselves would be 
eventually stripped of all their lands, by the deceptions 
and intrigues of individuals. They therefore determined 
to consider all sales by the Indians to individuals, without 
the assent of the government, as invalid, and the chiefs, 
father and son, agreed to the stipulation that none such 
should be made. The wisdom of this policy can 
scarcely be doubted. 

Amidst various perplexities, during the long adminis- 
tration of Governor Prence, the government at New 
Plymouth appears on the whole to have pursued a firm 
and steady course, in the promotion of the substantial 
interests of the people; and if we except a lamentable 
departure from a just and prudent toleration on religious 
topics, during the sixteen successive years of his magis- 
tracy, it is believed, that little will be found to reprehend, 
and much to approve. The bigotry which stained some 
portions of his career, was common to the age. His 
integrity was never questioned, save by the enthusiasts 
whom he looked upon as scoffers, and whose claim to 
liberty of conscience, appeared to him but a claim to 
reject the law of the gospel altogether. When Roger 
Williams, in 1670, bold in his defence of the great prin- 
ciples of religious freedom, proposed to Gov. Prence, to 
" dispute these and other points of difference," before the 
public, at Boston, Hartford, and Plymouth,* — Governor 
Prence replied, declining the proposition, but in terms 
which proved that no opposition would be offered to him, 
and no restraint imposed upon any persons who might. 

* See I Mass. Hist. Coll. i. 275, leltcr of Roger Williams. 

22 



170 THOMAS PRENCE. 

desire to hear him. He denies that the Plymouth govern- 
ment had any design to oppress a neighboring colony^ or 
to deprive them of ^^that which is by some cried up 
above all you call New England's gods, viz. liberty for 
every one to worship God as he lists^ or liketh best; and 
why not what God he liketh best also ?'' He declines a 
public discussion with Roger Williams, '^^ not because we 
have not some, through the grace of God, both able and 
willing to maintain what truth we profess against gain- 
sayers ; but who would expect to be any whit perfected 
or completed in matters appertaining to God's worship, 
by such as close not with any public worship upon earth, 
that is known 1 Not I. Such worship," continues Gov- 
ernor Prence, ^^ and a Samaritan religion, are much alike 
to me."* 

The administration of Governor Prence is rendered 
illustrious, by his zealous efforts to introduce a regular 
system of free schools into the colony. It has been inti- 
mated that a keen sense of his own deficiency in educa- 
tion, compared with the ability and learning of his im- 
mediate predecessors, first led him to espouse the cause 
of free schools. If such was the fact, it is still more to 
his credit; as a sense of personal deficiency oftener pro- 
duces exactly the contrary result — a desire to pull down, 
rather than to build up, the institutions of learning. It 
is certain that he met with earnest, and for a time suc- 
cessful opposition, and that at first he succeeded only so 
far as to effect the establishment of a free school at Ply- 
mouth, which was supported by the profits of the fishery 
at Cape Cod. Previous to his death, however, he had 
the satisfaction to behold the system which he had so 

*• See I Mass. Hist. Coll. vi. 203, reply of Gov. Prence, 



TIIO.'MAS PREXCE. 171 

earnestly advocated, and which was destined to work out 
incalculable benefits to posterity, in successful operation 
in most of the towns of the colony, and sustained, as he 
knew it must be, to be extensively beneficial, at the pub- 
lic expense. In the inventory of the library of Governor 
Prence, after his decease, 44 school books are mentioned. 
" This shews, he was a scholar," says the late John Cot- 
ton, Esq., in a manuscript quoted by Judge Davis. The 
inference, however, is somewhat questionable, when 
other indications are considered. But though he was not 
a scholar, he was impressed with the importance of learn- 
ing in the community, and indulged a generous zeal in 
promoting literary acquisitions, which he did not himself 
possess. The school books, in his possession were proba- 
bly intended for distribution in the schools, which he had 
succeeded in having established at the public expense.* 
Governor Prence was often employed in other public 
services of importance. He was a member of the coun- 
cil of war, and treasurer of the colony; was for twelve 
years one of the Commissioners of the United Colonies, 
and in 1672, was chosen the first president of the Board 
of Commissioners, under the new articles of Confedera- 
tion, adopted in September of that year.f 

The integrity of Governor Prence was proverbial 
among the people. As a magistrate, it is observed of 
him, that he so scrupulously rejected every thing which 

• Davis' Morton, 423. 

t See account of the first union of the Colonies, page 120. The confederation 
of the four colonies in 164'?, was re-organized in 1672, in consequence of the 
union of the New Haven colony with Connectioit, in 166."), and other changes 
in the relative condition of the colonies. The power of the Commissioners was 
now somewhat restricted, and instead of being executive, it was made in most 
cases merely advisory. — Baylies, ii. 191. 



172 THOMAS PRENCE. 

had even the appearance of a bribe^ that if any person, 
who had a cause in court, sent a present of any kind to 
his family during his absence, he immediately on being 
informed of it, returned the value in money — sometimes 
signifying to the party concerned that such a course of 
conduct was more likely to operate to his injury than to 
advance his cause. 

His industry, energy, and sound judgment, rendered 
him a very useful instrument in conducting the affairs 
of the rising colony, and would have made him a very 
respectable public character in a far more considerable 
community. 

During his administration, there were two revisals of 
the laws of the colony : one in 1658, the other in 1671. 
The last digest is said to have been the work of his 
hands.* 

Among the good deeds of Governor Prence, we 
should not omit to mention his exertions for a fixed and 

• The revision made in 1671, was printed in 1672, by Samuel Green, at Cam- 
bridge, in a folio of 50 pages. Thomas' Hist. Print. i.260. Baylies says " that 
not a single copy of the printed laws is now extant.-" Hist. New Plymouth, 
ii. 73. He is however in error, as a copy of the edition of 1671, is in the Libra- 
ry of the Massachusetts Historical Society. These laws were re-printed for the 
Colony in 1635, by Green, at Boston, in a folio of 90 pages, with the following 
title : " The Book of the General Laws of the Inhabitants of the Jurisdiction 
of New-Plymouth, collected out of the records of the General Court, and lately 
revised; and with some Emendations and Additions Established and Disposed 
into such Order as they may readily Conduce to General Use and Benefit. And 
by the Order and Authority of the General Court of New-Plymouth, held at 
Plymouth, June 2d, Anno Dom. 1685. Reprinted and Published. Nathaniel 
Clerk, Secrt. Be subject to every Ordinance of Man for the Lord's sake. I Pet. 
2. 13. Boston in New England ; Printed by Samuel Green, 1685." A fine 
copy of this edition of the Laws of New Plymouth, is preserved in the library of 
Hon. Peter Force, of Washington City ; appended to which are thirteen pages 
of manuscript, containing copies of sundry Orders mavle by Governor Andros 
and his Council, in 1687, respecting the courts of law, jurisdiction of justices of 
the peace, &c. apparently copied from the original record, and certified by what 
appears to be the genuine signature of " Jo/m West, D. Secretary." 



THOMAS PREXCE. 173 

competent support of an al)le and learned ministry. In 
many of the scattered settlements, a disposition prevailed 
to neglect this important branch of public instruction, and 
to employ incompetent lay exhorters — practices which 
he uniformly discountenanced. 

The Plymouth Church records, in noticing the char- 
acter of Governor Prence, depart from their usual 
course, by an indication of his personal appearance, from 
which it may be supposed that it was peculiarly digni- 
fied and striking: " He was excellently qualifyed for 
the office of governour. He had a countenance full of 
majesty, and therein, as well as otherwise, a terror to 
evil doers." 

Governor Prence died at his residence in Eastham, 
29 March, 1673,* in the 73d year of his age. His re- 
mains were brought to Plymouth, and, on the 8th of 
April following, honorably interred among the fathers 
on Burial Hill. 

Governor Prence was twice married. His only son 
Thomas, went to England young, married there, and soon 
after died, leaving an only daughter, whose name was 
Susanna. The governor was anxious that she should 
come to America, but this was prevented by the fond- 
ness of her mother. His eldest daughter Rebecca, was 
married to Edmund Freeman, Jr. of Sandwich. These 
were the children of Patience Brewster, a daughter of 

* "Thomas Prence, Esq. Governor of the Jurisdiction of New Plymouth, 
died 2!)th March, l(j73, and was interred the 8th of April following, after hee had 
served God in the office of Governor IG yeares, or neare thereunto. He finished 
his course in the 73 yearc of his life ; hee was a worthy gentleman, very pious, 
and very able for his office, and faithful in the discharge thereof, studious of 
peace, a well-wisher to all that feared God, and a terror to the' wicked; his 
death was much lamented, and his body honorably buried at Plymouth the day 
and yeare above mentioned." Plymouth Colony Records. 



174 THOMAS PRENCE. 

the venerable William Brewster^, to whom Governor 
Prence was married in 1624. By his second wife^ Mary, 
who was the daughter of William Colherj one of the 
assistants, formerly a London merchant, and to whom he 
was married in 1635, he was the father of seven daugh- 
ters, viz: Mary, married to John Tracy of Duxbury; 
Elizabeth, to Arthur Rowland of Duxbury; Judith, to 
Isaac Barker of Duxbury ; Hannah, to Nathaniel Mayo, 
of Eastham ; Jane, to Mark Snow of Eastham ; Sarah, 
to Jeremiah Howes of Yarmouth ; Mercy, to John Free- 
man of Eastham. 

The Governor uniformly wrote his name Prence, as 
given in this memoir. The common orthography is sup- 
posed to be in conformity to the pronunciation, and ac- 
cording to the mode of spelling adopted by the families 
of Prince, who settled at Nantasket and Hull. Gov- 
ernor Prence having left no male descendants, those of 
the name in Boston, and other parts of the country, are 
not of his family ; many of them are known to be de- 
scended from John Prince of Hull, son of Rev. John 
Prince, of East Shefford, in Berkshire, England, who 
came to this country in 1633, settled first at Watertown 
or Cambridge, was admitted freeman in 1635, removed 
to Hull, and died there in 1676. Rev. Mr. Prince, the 
chronologist, a grandson of John Prince, remarks, that 
Governor Prence highly valued him, and claimed a re- 
mote relationship. 



175 



V. JOSIAS WINSLOW. 

JosiAS WiNSLOWj the fifth governor of the colony 
of New Plymouth^ was the son of Edward Winslow, of 
whose life and pubhc services some account has been 
given in the preceding pages. He was born at Marsh- 
fieldj in the year 1629.* In his early education he 
enjoyed neither the discipline nor advantages of a school 
or college, as there was no school in the colony at that 
period ; but he had the benefit of his father's immediate 
care and instruction, as well as of the counsels and assis- 
tance of the excellent Mr. Brewster and of Governor 
Bradford ; and his public career served to shew that he 
had profited by their examples of steady virtue, ener- 
getic spirit, and disinterested public action. He was the 
first native of the country who held the office of gover- 
nor, and has been pronounced " the most accomplished 
man of his day in New England." 

Mr. Winslow was introduced into public life at a very 
early age. In 1643, probably as soon as he was eligible 
to that post, he was chosen one of the deputies to the 
general court from the setdement at Marshfield, and was 
elected to the same trust in several subsequent years. 
In 1657, soon after the death of his father, he was ap- 
pointed one of the assistants, and was annually re-elected 
until chosen governor. Two years afterwards, in 1659, 
he was appointed to a still more responsible station, in the 

* Some writers give tlio p:nglisli termination to the christinn name of Mr.. 
Winslow, Josiah; but in tills memoir, the name is given as I find it uniformly 
written by himself, in all tlie manuscripts which 1 haVe seen, containing his- 
signature. 



176 JOSIAS WINSLOW. 

existing condition of the colony^ that of major, or chief 
mihtary commander of the colony — a post hitherto held 
by the warlike Miles Standish. 

In the early periods of the colonial government, the 
highest military office was that of captain; but in 1653, 
the military force was placed under the command of a 
major, who was appointed by the council of war, con- 
sisting of eleven men, to whom in that year had been 
transferred the whole power of military legislation for 
the colony, and the appointment of all military officers. 
The major was the chief officer over all the forces of the 
colony, subject only to the instructions of the council of 
war. 

During the memorable Indian war of 1675, Governor 
Winslow had the command of the forces of the confeder- 
ated colonies, as general-in-chief. He was first chosen 
one of the commissioners from Plymouth colony under 
the confederation, in 165S, and was re-elected to the 
same office annually for thirteen successive years. 

A brief survey of the principles and objects of this 
celebrated confederation of the New England colonies — 
the germ of our present happy union of independent 
States — has been given in the memoir of the first Gover- 
nor Winslow.* 

In all the deliberations of the Commissioners, after he 
became a member of that body, Mr. Winslow bore a 
conspicuous part, and exercised a salutary influence. It 
was an age of severe religious discipline. The tolera- 
tion of any sect but one's own, was almost universally 
considered at that time as absolutely heretical, and sub- 
versive of all religious faith and discipline, and dangerous 

* See pp. ] 20— 122, of this volume. 



JOSIAS WINSLOW. 177 

to the community.* The persecuted had in turn become 
the persecutors. The laws against the anabaptists, and 
more especially those against the Quakers, not then so 
orderly a people as at present, were severe in the ex- 
treme, and were executed to the very letter: fully de- 
monstrating the truth of the remark of Montesquieu, that 
*^ every religion which is persecuted, becomes itself per- 
secuting; for as soon as by some accidental turn it arises 
from persecution, it attacks the religion that persecu- 
ted it." 

It should be mentioned as a circumstance honorable 
to the character of Governor Winslow, that he opposed 
the rigorous measures adopted in New Plymouth against 
the Quakers. When the Commissioners of the United 
Colonies, in 1658, exasperated by the obstinacy and vio- 
lence of the new sect, issued to the several colonies the 
recommendation that they should be put to death, 
'' unless they publicly renounced their cursed errors" — 
he had the moral courage to oppose this horrible edict, 
and he opposed it in every form. It is not often that 
public men have the nerve to stand up in opposition to 
the great body of the people whom they serve ; less 
often are they found to possess the strength of character 

* The early writers of New England are seldom found to touch upon this 
subject, otherwise than in terms of bitterness. Ward, in "The Simple Cobler of 
Agawam," says—" That state that will give Liberty of Conscien(-e in matters 
of Religion, must give Liberty of Conscience and Conversation in their Moral 
Laws, or else the Fiddle will be out of Tiini% and some of the strings crack. * • • 
It is said, Thit Men ought to have Liberty of iheir Conscience, and that it is 
Persecution lo debar them of it : I c in rather stand amazed thin reply to this : 
it is an astonishment to think that the brains of men should be parboyl'din such 
impious ignoratice : Lt-t all the wits under the Heaven:) lay their hfads to- 
gether and find an assertion worse than. this, (one excepted,) I will petition to l>e 
chosen the universal Ideot of the World." — See "The Simple Cobler," in 
Force's Tracts, Vol. Ill, No. 8. 

23 



178 JOSIAS WINSLOW. 

and capacity necessary to enable them to stem the tor- 
rent of a general pubhc delusion. This independence 
of the popular sentiment, under the preceding adminis- 
tration of Governor Prence, had caused General Cud- 
worthj Isaac Robinson, and other excellent men to be 
proscribed, and driven from public employment; but 
Mr. Winslow's popularity was such, that he was enabled 
to sustain himself in the attitude he had assumed. He 
was in advance of the times ; and the people soon 
began to see it; so that in the end, when the popular 
delusion had passed away, he was the more admired, and 
his influence became' the stronger, for his firmness in 
maintaining his opinions. 

Governor Prence died in the spring of 1673, and at 
the next general court, which was held in June, Mr. 
Winslow was chosen his successor. He had now an op- 
portunity to make a further exhibition of his tolerant 
principles. We accordingly find that he immediately 
determined upon the restoration of a most valuable citi- 
zen, then in retirement, to his rights as a freeman, in 
order that he might avail himself of the benefit of his 
abilities and integrity in the public service. This per- 
son was General James Cudworth, an assistant from 
Scituate, in 1657, who had been left out of office, and 
disfranchised, under the administration of Governor 
Prence, in consequence of his opposition to the harsh 
proceedings against the Quakers.* Other persons, also 
proscribed for their opposition to the persecution of that 
sect, were soon after restored to their rights as freemen 
by Governor Winslow. One of these was Isaac Robin- 
son, son of the venerable puritan founder, John Robin- 

* See pp. 154, of this volume. 



JOSIAS WINSLOW. 179 

son, who seems to have inherited the Hberal and tolerant 
spirit of his father. 

For some years previous to 1675, the people of the 
colony had lived in general harmony with their Indian 
neighbors. The treaty of 1621 with Massasoithad been 
scrupulously observed, and while he lived, the Indians 
were faithful to his promises. After his death, his son 
and successor, Alexander, who was understood to be 
conspiring with the Narragansetts against the English, 
was summoned before the governor and council at Ply- 
mouth, to answer to the charge. Hesitating about a com- 
pliance with this abrupt summons, he was surprised by 
a party under the command of Major Winslow, and 
finally persuaded by one of his own counsellors to go to 
the house of the governor at Plymouth. His indigna- 
tion was so great at his surprisal, that it threw him into 
a fever. He had leave to depart, on leaving his son as 
a hostage, but he died before reaching home.* 

Metacomet, of Pokanoket, better known as King 
Philip, succeeded his brother Alexander. He affected 
to renew the treaty of peace, but he was at the same 
time secretly meditating the overthrow of the English. 
Far more intelligent than most of his race, he beheld 
with dismay the tokens which announced the falling for- 
tunes of his country. He saw Jiis people wasting away, 
and that they must ultimately become extinct. He had 
also family wrongs to redress, and personal enmities to 
avenge. He had been subjected to ignominious treaties. 
The expressions of reverence and respect which he had 

* See particulars in relation to the surprisal and death of the sachem Alex- 
ander, pp. 163 — 166, ante. Compare also accounts in Drake's Book of the In- 
dians, b. iii. and authorities there cited. 



180 JOSIAS WINSLOW. 

Uttered for the British monarch, had been construed into 
submission, and an acknowledgment of fealty. When 
summoned on some occasion to renew his treaty with 
the English, he replied, ^^ Your Governor is but a sub- 
ject of King Charles of England. I shall not treat with 
a subject. I shall treat of peace only with the King, my 
brother. When he comes, I am ready!" Such was 
the lofty spirit of the last monarch of the Wampanoags. 
But he could not maintain it, nor withstand the rapidly 
advancing power of the whites. They repeatedly sum- 
moned him to appear before the English courts at Ply- 
mouth and at Boston, sometimes upon frivolous charges, 
and he was compelled to answer the summons. He was 
charged with perfidy, for breaking promises made while 
under restraint, and with impiety, for adhering to the re- 
ligion of his ancestors, incompliance with the injunctions 
of his father.* And he was finally required to deliver 
into the hands of his enemies, all his weapons of defence. 
Such were his supposed wrongs. His vengeance could 
be glutted only by the blood of his enemies. His scheme 
to accomplish that vengeance, was one of the most ex- 
traordinary ever conceived by the mind of a savage. He 
visited all the tribes dwelling within the limits of New 
England, for the purpose of organizing a combination to 
exterminate the whites. The plot seems to have been 
well and carefully laid, and was ripening apace. Of this 
confederacy he was to be the chief. Though the sachem 
of a petty tribe, he soon raised himself to a prouder 
eminence than was ever before attained by the red man 
of North America. The Narragansetts had engaged to 
join him with their whole strength, so that he could 

• Hutchinson's History of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, 276. 



JOSIAS WINSLOW. 181 

brinof into service between three and four thousand war- 
riors. The spring of 1676, was the period fixed for 
commencing this great enterprise. The attack was to 
have been simuhaneous from the Cocheco to the Narra- 
gansett. But the plot was prematurely developed, and 
Philip was forced to commence the struggle before he 
was prepared, and under many disadvantages. 

The war commenced in June, 1675, in the following 
manner. John Sausaman, a praying, or Christian Indian, 
friendly to the English, gave them notice of the hostile 
intentions of Philip and his allies. The information he 
gave, cost him his life. He was met soon afterwards by 
three or four of Philip's Indians, on a frozen pond, when 
they knocked him down, and put him under the ice, 
leaving his gun and hat upon the ice, to make the English 
believe that he accidentally fell in and was drowned. 
When the body was found, the wounds upon his head, 
and the testimony of an Indian, who, from a hill over- 
looking the spot, saw the murder committed, were suffi- 
cient proofs against the murderers. They were there- 
upon arrested, tried at Plymouth in June, 1675, con- 
demned, and executed. Governor Winslow, in a letter 
to the governor of Massachusetts, dated 4 July, 1675, 
says, "I do solemnly profess we know not anything from 
us that might put Philip upon these motions, nor have 
we heard that he pretends to have suffered any wrong 
from us, save only that we had killed some Indians, and 
intended to send for himself, for the murder of John 
Sausaman. The last that was executed this week, con- 
fessed that he saw the other two do the murder. Neither 
had we any thoughts to command him in about it." 
Among the Indians, a murderer was left to the revenge 



182 JOSIAS WINSLOW. 

of relatives and friends of the victim; but the renegade 
and traitor, was to be slain by any of the tribe who should 
be able to reach him. Philip regarded Sausaman as a 
traitor. Enraged to see the immediate actors brought 
to punishment by the English laws, and expecting that 
it would be his own turn next, being conscious that the 
murderers were employed by him, he took no pains to 
exculpate himself; but gathered what strangers he could, 
and together with his own men, marched them up and 
down the country in arms. 

Governor Winslow ordered a military watch to be 
kept up in every town, but took no other notice of the 
conduct of the Indians, hoping that when Philip saw 
that measures were used for apprehending him, the 
threatened storm would blow over, as it had done sever- 
al times before. But the Indians coming in to him from 
several quarters, gave him fresh courage, and he behaved 
with insolence, first threatening the English at Swansey, 
then killing some of their cattle, and at length rifling 
their houses. An Englishman, at Swansey, was at 
length so provoked, that he fired upon an Indian, and 
wounded him. 

This was an act that Philip desired, as among his 
people there was a superstitious belief, that the party 
which first shed blood in the struggle, would finally be 
conquered. He now commenced an active war; and 
believing, that nothing short of the destruction of the 
English would secure the Indians from total ruin, he 
exerted his utmost energies in prosecuting a war of ex- 
termination. Murder, fire and desolation marked his 
course. There was scarcely an English family that did 
not suifer in the loss of relatives, or the destruction of 



JOSIAS WINSLOW. 183 

property. The approach of the enemy was noiseless, 
like ^"^the pestilence that walketli in darkness;" and a 
dwelling wrapt in flames^, or a family barbarously mur- 
dered and scalpedj were often the first intimations of 
their appearance.* 

Under the new articles of confederation, the regular 
triennial meeting of the Commissioners of the United 
Colonies was holden at Boston, in September of this 
year, (1675.) Governor Winslow and Thomas Hinck- 
ley, the two Commissioners from Plymouth/ presented 
to that body "^^A brief narrative of the beginning and 
progress of the })resent trouble between us and the In- 
dians, taking its rise in the colony of New Plymouth, 
A. D., 1675." This paper, probably drawn up by Gov- 
ernor Winslow, recited the circumstances which went to 
shew the undoubted hostile intent of Philip, from 1671 
to the massacre at Swansey, on the 25th of June, 1675. 
The United Colonies at once declared the war to be a 
common cause, and ordered the raising of a thousand 
men. 

At the close of the year, the colonies became aware 
of the necessity of prosecuting an active campaign in the 
midst of winter. It was no longer doubted that the 
Narragansett Indians were in secret alliance with Philip. 
A declaration of war against the Narragansetts was ac- 
cordingly published in November, by the Commissioners 
of the United Colonies. Governor Winslow, one of 
their body, was appointed commander-in-chief of all the 
the forces. He was well qualified for this important 
trust, by bravery and ability, tempered with prudence 
and discretion. 

* Willard, in Farmer and Moore's Hist. Coll. iii. 106. 



184 JOSIAS WINSLOW. 

It has been said that Governor Winslow was an 
object of the mortal hatred of the Wampanoags^ on ac- 
count of his agency in the capture of Alexander. Philip 
made no secret of his purpose to avenge the affront; and 
the governor found it necessary to put his house in a 
complete state of defence. He deemed it prudent, also, 
while the war lasted, to place his family out of the reach 
of the tomahawk, and he accordingly sent his wife and 
children to Salem.* 

The Commissioners, deeming it of the highest im- 
portance to anticipate their enemies, and frustrate their 
plans, ordered that the army under General Winslow, 
should prepare for active service by the 10th December. 
Instructions were drawn up in form for the conduct of 
the campaign, addressed to General Winslow ; a portion 
of which, was as follows : — 

" You are, at the time appointed, to march with all 
convenient speed, with the forces under your command, 
to the Narriganset country, or to the place where the 
head quarters or chief rendezvous of the enemy is known 
to be. And having acquainted your officers and soldiers 
of your commission and power, you shall require their 
obedience thereunto; and see that they be governed ac- 

* " My person, T hear, has been much threatened. I have about twenty men 
at my house ; have sent away my wife and children to Salem, that I may be 
less encumbered ; have flankered my house, and resolve to maintain it, as long 
as a mm will stand by me." Gov. Winsloin to Got. Levcrett, 4th July, 1675. 

The following order, transcribed from the Old Colony Records, may serve 
to show the extent of the dangers, which at this time menaced the existence 
of the colony : " Ordcful btj the Court, that during the time of puolic dangf r, 
th:it every one tliat comes to the meeting on the Lord's day, bring his arms 
with him, and furnished with at least five chargi'S of powder and shot, until 
further order shall be given, under penally of 2s. for every such default." At 
the same time an order was passed, prohibiting the waste of ammunition by firing 
at any thing, "except at an Indian, or a wolf," under a further penalty of 05. 
for every offence. 



JOSIAS WINSLOW. 185 

cording to rules military, that all profaneness and dis- 
order in your camp and quarters be avoided as much as 
in you lieth, and that you impartially punish the break- 
ing forth thereof in any. 

'' You are to see that the worship of God be kept 
up, and duly attended in the army, by daily prayer and 
invocation of His name, and preaching of His word as 
you have opportunity, and the Sabbath be not profaned, 
but that, as much as in you lies, and the emergency of 
your service will admit, you take care it be duly sanc- 
tified, and your ministers respect it. 

"And that you endeavour as silently and suddenly to 
surprise the enemy as you can, and if possibl ; draw or 
force them to an engagement, and therein to do valiantly 
for the honour of God and of our nation, and the in- 
terest of the country; and that you encourage valour in 
any, and severely punish cowardice."* 

The army under the command of Winslow consisted 
of from fifteen hundred to two thousand men, including 
volunteers and Indians, and a troop of horse, under com- 
mand of Captain Thomas Prentice. The Massachusetts 
forces were divided into six companies, commanded by 
Captains Mosely, Gardiner, Davenport, Oliver and John- 
son, under Major Appleton. Those of Connecticut 
were commanded by Major Treat, who had under him 
Captains Seily, Mason, Gallop, Watts, and Marshall. 
The Plymouth forces were commanded by Major Wil- 
liam Bradford, son of Governor Bradford, and Captain 
John Gorham. It was unfortunate that Captain Church,. 
in consequence of some previous misunderstanding with 

* The Instructions to General Winslow, are published in III Mass, Hist, 
Coll., i. 66. 

24 



186 JOSIAS WINSLOW. 

the government, was prevented having a command on 
this occasion ; but, at the particular desire of the com- 
mander-in-chief, he took part in the campaign as a volun- 
teer. The Narragansett country, in which were to be 
the war operations, was almost an entire w^ilderness. 
Philip's fort was located in South Kingston, Rhode 
Island, in an immense swamp, in the centre of which was 
a piece of high ground, comprising about five or six 
acres. The fortification was formed by high pallisades, 
encircling the w^hole of the elevated land. The palH- 
sades were encompassed by a thick and almost impenetra- 
ble hedge of fallen trees, with their branches pointing 
outward, of almost a rod in width. At one corner there 
was an opening, where a large fallen tree was placed, 
rising four or five feet from the ground, but this entrance 
was defended by a sort of block-house, and by flankers 
at the sides. The common entrance into this fort, was 
by passing along the body of a tree, which had been 
thrown over a body of deep water between the fort and 
the main land, which could be done only in single file. 
Within this strong enclosure, the Indians had erected 
about five hundred wigwams of superior construction, 
intended for the winter quarters of their whole people, 
men, women and children. Here they had deposited a 
large quantity of provisions, and baskets and tubs of corn 
were so piled one upon another, as to afford additional 
defence against the English bullets. It is estimated that 
not less than three thousand people had collected here, 
as their safe retreats. The warriors were armed with 
bows and arrows, muskets and tomahawks. 

On the 18th December, 1675, General Winslow's 
army marched to attack Philip and his Narragansett al-^ 



JOSIAS WINSLOW. 187 

liesj in their strong fort ; the weather was cold and 
stormy, and the snow more than ankle deep on the 
ground. The houses on their route, in which they ex- 
pected to quarter that night, had been burnt down by 
the Indians, before their arrival, and they were destitute 
of shelter during the night. At the dawn of the follow- 
ing day, they resumed their march of fifteen miles, and 
at one o'clock, reached the margin of the swamp, where, 
having no shelter from the inclemency of the weather, 
and being short of provisions, they resolved to make an im- 
mediate attack. Not an Englishman was acquainted with 
the situation of the Indian fort ; but it was fortunate for 
them, that, a few days before, some thirty-five of Philip's 
men had been made prisoners by Captain Mosely, among 
whom was one named Peter , who turned traitor to his 
countrymen, and undertook to guide the army through 
the intricate paths of the forest to the seat of his Sachem. 
The assault was now commenced; the Indians at the 
margin of the swamp were driven to their strong hold, 
and the troops, without any regular order, rushed im- 
petuously up to the barriers of the fort; the officers and 
men were intermixed, but they faced death with boldness 
and courage. The gallant Captains, Johnson and Daven- 
port, with a number of their men, were soon seen to fall, 
and as one after another was swept off at the narrow 
passage, by the enemy's fire, others supplied the places 
of the slain. Overwhelmed by the deadly fire of the 
Indians, there was a momentary recoil, and the troops 
throwing themselves down with their faces to the ground, 
the bullets passed over them. Two other companies ad- 
vancing, were also compelled to retreat; but, animated 
by the exhortations and exertions of General Winslow 



188 JOSIAS WINSLOW. 

and Major Appleton, the soldiers were rallied, and again 
resumed the conflict. A few officers and men had now 
forced their way into the fort, and here commenced a 
personal combat, hand to hand. At this moment, a 
voice was heard, "they run! tJieyrun!^^ This operated 
like enchantment upon the English, and a general rush 
through the barriers ensued; the Indians were driven 
from their posts at every point, and from wigwam to 
wigwam in great confusion. An immense slaughter 
took place; neither men, M^omen nor children were 
spared; all were hewn down, and the ground was liter- 
ally encumbered with hea )s of the slain. In the midst 
of this awful fight, fire was communicated to their wig- 
wams, when the bowlings and yells of the savages were 
mingled with the roar of musketry, the raging of the 
consuming fire, and the screams of the women and chil- 
dren ; altogether forming a scene inconceivably appalling 
to humanity. 

The battle continued for three hours with unexam- 
pled ferocity and obstinacy ; quarters were neither asked 
nor r -ceived, but carnage and death w^ere on every side. 
The whole army, officers and men, fought with undaunt- 
ed courage; the captains led their men to the conflict, 
and continued at their head till they received the fatal 
bullet. Captain Church, always brave, and never in- 
active, by permission led the second party that entered 
the fort, and while within, he was struck at the same in- 
stant with three bullets from a party of the enemy. He 
received a severe wound in his thigh, and another slight 
wound, but the third bullet struck against a thick pair of 
woollen mittens, which was doubled in his pocket, which 
jS&ved him from a fatal wound. For some time after the 



JOSIAS WINSLOW. 189 

fort was in possession of tlic English, the combatants in 
various parts of the swamp, continued the work of 
slaughter. 

The English being masters of the fort, it became a 
question whether to hold possession of it for the present, 
or to abandon it immediately. General Winslow and 
■Captain Church were decidedly in favor of holding pos- 
session. As the darkness of night was apj)roaching, the 
troops might find shelter in the wigwams that were not 
burnt, and avail themselves of the Indians' provisions, 
which they greatly needed. But this measure was vio- 
lently and very improperly opposed by one of the Cap- 
tains and a surgeon, probably from the apprehension that 
the Indians might rally their forces, and drive them from 
the fort in their turn. The surgeon asserted that un- 
less the wounded were removed that night, it could not 
be effected the next day, when their wounds would be 
inflamed and painful; and turning to Captain Church, 
whose blood was then flowing from his wounds, impu- 
dently said to him, ' that if he gave such advice, he should 
bleed to death like a dog, before he would endeavor to 
staunch his wound.' It was now decided to quit the 
ground, which was done with some precipitation, leav- 
ing eight of their dead in the fort. It was indeed a cruel 
dilemma, after fighting three hours, to be compelled to 
march fifteen miles through the snow, and in a most 
boisterous night, before they could halt, and the wounded 
could be dressed ; and it is not strange that many of the 
wounded died before they could reach their destined 
quarters. Drake has well said, that the sufferings of the 
English after this fight, are almost without a parallel in 
history. The horrors of Moscow will not longer be re- 



190 JOSIAS WINSLOW. 

membered. The myriads of modern Europe assembled 
there, bear but a small proportion to the number of their 
countrymen, compared with that of the army of New 
England and theirs, in the fight at Narragansett.* 

Thus ended this memorable engagement, and the vic- 
tory on the side of the English was purchased at the high 
price of eighty men killed, and one hundred and fifty 
wounded. Six brave captains were killed, viz : Daven- 
port, Gardiner, Johnson, Gallop, Seily, and Marshall. 
Lieutenant Upham was mortally wounded, and Captain 
John Gorham, of Barnstable, died of a fever on the ex- 
pedition. The number of Indians slain is uncertain; but 
Hubbard says it was confessed by Potock, a great coun- 
sellor amongst them, who was taken and executed, that 
seven hundred fighting men were slain, and three hun- 
dred wounded, the most of whom died. The number 
of old men, women and children, who were burnt in 
their wigwams, and who died from hunger and cold, 
must have been immense. 

Such was the result of the great Narragansett-Swamp 
Fiffht. The suddenness of the retreat rendered the 
honors of the victory equivocal, but the consequences of 
victory followed ; the Narragansetts never recovered from 
the effects of this terrible disaster. If treachery was ac- 
tually designed, the crime was sufficiently expiated by 
this horrible infliction. 

When General Winslow arrived at his quarters at 
Wickford, four hundred of his soldiers, besides the 
wounded, were rendered unfit for duty, and many of 

* Book of the Indians, b. iii. c. 2. See accounts of the Narragansett war, 
as given by Church, Hubbard, Mather, Hutchinson, Trumbull, Baylies, &c. 
Drake's invaluable book embodies all that is necessary to be known of the 
Indians of New England. 



JOSIAS WINSLOW. 191 

them were frost-bitten. The snow that fell during the 
night rendered travelling almost impracticable. 

After some ineffectual attempts to renew the peace, 
General Winslow, in January, 1676, marched for the 
swamp, where the diminished forces of the Narragan- 
setts were posted. As the English approached, the In- 
dians lied, and when overtaken, dispersed singly into the 
swamps, where it became a vain effort to pursue them. 
The war however was prosecuted with unabated vigor, 
in the following year, until the death of Philip, in Au- 
gust, 1676, put a period to the contest. The Indians in 
all- the surrounding country, after the fall of their great 
leader, generally submitted to the English, or fled and 
became incorporated with distant tribes. 

In this distressing war, more than six hundred of the 
colonists were slain, twelve or thirteen towns were laid 
waste, and about six hundred buildings, chiefly dwell- 
ings, were destroyed by the Indians. The colonists con- 
soled themselves with the reflection, that they had not 
made a war of aggression, and that it was on their part 
unprovoked. In a letter dated 1 Ma}^, 1676, Governor 
Winslow remarked : " I think I can clearly say, that, 
before these present troubles broke out, the English did 
not possess one foot of land in this colony which was not 
fairly obtained, by honest purchase from the Indian pro- 
prietors." 

The fall of Philip was then considered as the extinc- 
tion of a virulent and implacable enemy. It is now 
viewed as the fall of a great warrior, a penetrating states- 
man, and a mighty prince. It then excited universal joy 
and congratulation, as a prelude to the close of a merci- 
less war. It now awakens sober reflections, on the ia- 



192 JOSIAS WINSLOW. 

stability of empire, the peculiar destiny of the aboriginal 
race, and the inscrutable decrees of Heaven. The patri- 
otism of the man was then overlooked, in the cruelty of 
the savage ; and httle allowance was made for the natu- 
ral jealousy of the sovereign, on account of the barbari- 
ties of the warrior. Philip, in the progress of the En- 
glish settlements, foresaw the loss of his territory, and the 
extinction of his tribe; and made one mighty effort to 
prevent these calamities. He fell, and his fall contribu- 
ted to the rise of the United States.* 

The enterprising spirit of Governor Winslow was too 
great for his feeble frame, and at the beginning of Febru- 
ary, 1676, he was compelled to retire from a command, 
which required a considerable degree of physical hardi- 
hood no less than military skill. The commissioners of 
the United Colonies voted him a gratuity of one hundred 
pounds, and a grant was also made to him by the Ply- 
mouth Colony, in testimonial of the high sense enter- 
tained by the people of his eminent services in the pre- 
ceding campaign. 

After the Indian war had terminated, the attention 
of the government was directed to the great object of 
obtaining ft\-m the King, the long promised charter for 
the colony. Connecticut had received her charter, and 
the royal favor had been promised in express terms to 
the people of Plymouth. Governor Winslow, well 
aware of the perverse policy prevailing in the mother 
country, and of the efforts making by Massachusetts to 
obtain a grant of the lands of Mount Hope, conquered 
from the Indians, deemed it ex edient to enlist the aid 
of Edmund Randolph, sometimes called the ''evil genius 

* Ramsay's Univ. Hist., i. 286* 



JOSIAS WINSLOW. 193 

of New England," who had just been appointed to the 
collectorship of Boston, and possessed some influence at 
court. Mount Hope was claimed by Rhode Island, and 
also by John Crown, a favorite at court, who urged his 
suit upon the ground of losses sustained by his ffilher in 
the surrender of Nova Scotia to the French, by the 
treaty of Breda. 

The necessity of sending an agent to London now 
became apparent, and Governor Winslow was soHcited 
to undertake the mission. Randolph, in a letter to him, 
dated 29 Jan. 1680, says — "The inclosed, from Crown, 
came to my hands at Piscataqua : by that you will easily 
see a necessity of speeding for court. I did not forget 
to signify your grateful receipt of his Majesty's letters ; 
and being indisposed, you desired that nothing might be 
done about Mount Hope, till somebody did appear from 
your colony. Sir, be assured Mr. Crown will be doing, 
and his interest at court is not small ; and considering the 
necessity there is of renew^ing your charter, you can never 
do your colony greater service, than to appear yourself at 
Whitehall, where 3'ou will very well stem his designs. 
I know not yet but I may wait upon you to England, in- 
tending to be where I may be most serviceable to his 
majesty's affairs, and assistant to the people of this coun- 
try."* 

Governor Winslow's declining health, however, put 
it out of his power to gratify the wishes of the peo- 
ple. It might have been fortunate for the colony, had 
it been otherwise; as the reputation which Governor 
Winslow enjoyed at home and in England, aided by his 
own address and accomplishments as a statesman and 

* I Mass. Hist. Coll., vi. 02. 

25 



194 JOSIAS WINSLOW. 

gentleman, might have secured a charter, and perhaps 
prolonged the separate existence of the Old Colony. 

If it can be said that any one is fortunate, it may be 
truly said of the second Governor Winslow. His whole 
life was passed during the existence of the colony of 
which he was a native. He 'knew no other country. 
He died while it was independent, and before the extinc- 
tion of its independence was anticipated or seriously ap- 
prehended. 

The early colonists, when they looked into their sit- 
uation, must always have felt a deep apprehension of 
possible evils — a sense of insecurity ; an anticipation of 
the desolation and bloodshed of an Indian war. At the 
time of his death, the question was settled; the abori- 
ginals were conquered ; and such as remained in the vi- 
cinity of the English, were beginning to be objects of 
commiseration, rather than of terror. 

In the accomplishment of this great work. Governor 
Winslow had been a principal and triumphant actor. In 
his native colony, he had stood upon the uppermost 
heights of society. Civic honors awaited him in his ear- 
liest youth ; he reached every elevation which could be 
obtained, and there M^as nothing left for ambition to covet^ 
because all had been gained. The governor acquired 
the highest military rank, and had been engaged in active 
and successful warfare, with the highest command then 
known in New England. He presided over the legisla- 
tive, executive, and judicial departments of the govern- 
ment. 

Governor Winslow lived on his ample paternal do- 
main, and his hospitality was not only generous, but 
(according to the notions of the age) magnificent. In 



JOSIAS WINSLOW. 195 

addition to his military and civic distinctions^ he had ac- 
quired that of being the most accomplished gentleman, 
and the most delightful companion in the colony ; and 
the attractions of the festive and social board at Careswell, 
were not a little heightened by the charms of his beauti- 
ful wife. 

Mild and tolerant himself, he witnessed with regret 
the movements of that fierce spirit which would not tole- 
rate the liberality, and was blind to the wisdom of Cud- 
worth, Robinson, and others ; and he had the address to 
restore them to the confidence of the people, at a period 
when the curse of the age, the spirit of religious bigotry, 
was maddened by opposition, and armed with conscious 
power. 

Persevering, frank, bold, and resolute, he encoun- 
tered the hazards of popular displeasure, with the same 
fearlessness that he did the ambushes and bullets of the 
savages — and he was successful. 

Such was the heart, and such the spirit which ani- 
mated the feeble frame of Josias Winslow. His health, 
never good, was much impaired by fatigues and exposure 
in the Narragansett campaign ; after the war was over 
it rapidly declined, and he sunk into his grave at the age 
of fifty-one, in the fullness of his honors, and with his 
mental faculties unsubdued by disease, and unimpaired 
by age. This bright picture of his character has its 
shades ; his courage bordered on rashness, and his easy 
temper sometimes exposed him to the machinations of 
the unworthy.* 

Governor Winslow died on the 18th December, 1680, 
in the fifty second year of his age. The expenses of his 

* Baylies' History of New Plymouth, Part IV. 8—10. Thachcr, 139. 



196 JOSIAS WINSLOW. 

funeral were directed to be paid from the public treasu- 
ry, " in testimony of the colony's endeared love and af- 
fection to him."* 

Governor Winslow married Penelope, daughter of 
Herbert Pelham, Esq. of Boston, an assistant in the gov- 
ernment of Massachusetts, a gentleman of ancient family, 
connected with the ducal house of New Castle. Mr. 
Pelham took an early interest in the settlement of New 
England, and came to Boston in 1645. He was an as- 
sistant in Massachusetts, from 1646 to 1649, when he 

* Tradition furnishes the following anecdote; At the funeral of Governor 
Winslow, Ilev. Mr. Witherell, of Scituate, prayed "that the Governor's son 
might be made half equal to his father." The Rev. Dr. Gad Hitchcock, on 
the same occasion, ohserved, "thattiie prayer was so very reasonable, that it 
might be lioped that God would grant it, but he did not." 

An elegy on the death of Governor Winslow, written by Elder William 
Witherell, of Scituate, when eighty years old, has been preserved. The fol- 
lowing extracts mark the character of the poem, the whole of which may be 
found in Deane's History of Scituate, 395. 

"How many dangers hath this gentleman, 

In's life escaped, both by sea and land ! 

Fort fights, Shoals, Quicksands, Quagmires. Boggs and Sloughs, 

Enough to plunge an hundred strong teamed Ploughs, 

Yet he brake througli ; but now we see him have 

Mir'd and stuck fast in a dry upland grave. 

The Pitcher that went oft whole to the well, 

Comes home at last, crack'd like a broken shell. 

Our Court of Justice sits in widowhood ; 

The Judge arrested — Bnilo will do no good. 

Judges are stayes of States, when such staycs fall. 

It bodes the weak'ning of the Judgment Hall. Isaiah Hi. 2. 

Somewhat above thrice compleat seven years since, 
Plymouth liatli lost l>lest Bradford, Winslow, Prince, 
> Three skilful Pilots through tliis Wilderness, 
To conduct Pilgrims ; all three called t'undress 
Upon the top of Pisgab ; while we here Dcu. xxxiv, 4, 5, 6, 
Left Pilotless, do witliout compass steer. 

Thrice honored Rulers, Elders, People all, 

Come and lament this stately Cedar's fall. 

Cut down at's height, full noontide blest with shine 

Of Royal favour, and (no doubt) Divine ; 

Freighted with tunns of honour. Every man 

At's best estate is altogether vain. Psalm xxxix. 5." 

Judge Davis, in a note to Morton, remarks, that "this performance cannot 
but bo regarded with tenderness, when we look at the signature, " Mcestus 
posuit, William Witherell, Octogenarius." 



JOSIAS WINSLOW. 197 

returned to En,!J:;laml. Jfc was of the same family with 
Thomas, Lord Pelham, who on the death of Joliii llolhs, 
Duke of New Castle, 15 July, 1711, succeeded that no- 
bleman in his titles aiul estates. Penelope Pelham, a 
sister of Herbert Pelham, was the wife of Governor ]5el- 
lingham of Massachusetts. In the will of Herbert Pel- 
ham, dated at London, January 1, 1673, proved March 
13, 1677, he is called of Ferrers, in Bewers Hamlet, in 
the county of Essex. His lands in Cambridge, Water- 
town, Sudbury, and elsewhere in New England, were 
given to his son Edward Pelham ; and his personal pro- 
perty, in this country, to that son and his daughter Pene- 
lope Winslow, who survived her husband.* 

Isaac Winslow, the only son of Governor Winslow, 
born in 1671, was eminently distinguished, having sus- 
tained the chief places of power and honor in the colony, 
as chief military commander under the governor, and for 
several years Chief Justice of the Inferior Court of Com- 
mon Pleas, Judge of Probate of Wills, and one of his 
Majesty's Council for the Province of Massachusetts Bay, 
for more than twenty years, and for several years Presi- 
dent of that body. This gentleman possessed a truly 
noble spirit, was much given to hospitality, and univer- 



*.She died, in 1703, aged 73. A late tourist into the Old Colony, describes 
his visit to the seat of Mr. Winslow's family, in Marshfield, and to other mem- 
orable places, in that vicinity, in a manner that is credital)]e to his taste and 
feeling. Speaking of the family portraits, that of Josias Winslow, he says, is 
"evidently by the hand of a master, and his beautiful bride makes one of the 
group. She appears about twenty, and her costume is more modern than that 
given to other females of that period, of greater age. Iler head-dress is of 
great simplicity. The hair parted on the top, and falling in ringlets on each 
side of her temples and neck; the countenance bespeaks gentleness and intel- 
ligence." [Alden Bradford, in Boston Commercial Gazette, 9th November, 
1826.] The Winslow portraits are now in the cabinet of the Massachusetts 
Historical Society. 



198 JOSIAS WINSLOW. 

sally beloved. He died at his seat in Marshfield, De- 
cember^ 1738^ in the 68th year of his age. 

His eldest son^ a young gentleman of great promise^ 
by the name of Josiah^ engaged in military service, re- 
ceived a captain's commission, and was killed in battle, 
with thirteen of his company, after a most gallant resist- 
ance against a superior force of French and Indians, in 
the war of 1724. 

General John Winslow, the eldest of the surviving 
sons of Isaac, was a distinguished and successful com- 
mander. In 1740, he commanded a company in the ex- 
pedition against Cuba, and afterwards rose to the rank of 
Major General in the British service. 

In 1755, an expedition against Nova Scotia was un- 
dertaken by the British Government. The boundaries 
were unsetded — the English claiming to the St. Lawrence, 
the French restricting them to the peninsula of Acadia. 
The French were in the occupancy of the disputed ter- 
ritory, and had erected forts to defend it. To dispossess 
them, was the object of the expedition, which was placed 
under the command of Colonel Monckton. The troops, 
which were mostly drawn from Massachusetts, were 
placed under the immediate command of Lieutenant Col- 
onel John Winslow, through whose personal influence 
and exertions nearly two thousand men had been raised 
for the expedition. He conducted the campaign with 
great skill. The two French forts were captured, with 
scarcely any loss on the part of the conquerors, and the 
whole Province completely reduced, chiefly through the 
enterprise and good conduct of Colonel Winslow. To 
him was also entrusted the diflficult and ungrateful task 
of removing the French neutrals, who were all expelled 



JOSIAS WINSLOW. 199 

from Nova Scotia. Previous to commencing the cam- 
paign of 1756, against Crown Point, General Abercrom- 
bie sent for General Winslow, and to him was to have 
been entrusted an attack on Ticonderoga, which was sus- 
pended by orders from Lord Loudon, in consequence of 
the disaster at Oswego. Li 1756, he commanded at Fort 
William Henry, on Lake George. He was also a coun- 
sellor of the Province. He died at Marshfield in 1774, 
at the age of 73.* 

General John Winslow left two sons, Pelham and 
Isaac. Pelham was an attorney at law and a leading 
citizen in Plymouth, but being a loyalist, became obnox- 
ious to popular resentment, and found it necessary to 
resort for safety to the British camp. He joined the Brit- 
ish army soon after the battle of Lexington, received a 
major's commission, was soon after appointed a commis- 
sary, and after continuing some years with the troops in 
New York, died at Flushing, Long Island, in 1783. His 
w^dow, originally Joanna White of Marshfield, returned 
to and died at Plymouth, May 1, 1829, aged 84, 

Isaac was of the medical profession, and resided on 
the paternal estate at Marshfield, where he died in 1819, 
aged 81 years. He married the daughter of Dr. Stock- 
bridge of Scituate. His only son John, an eminent law- 

^ Gen. Winslow was remarkable for his skill in horsemanship. He im- 
ported a valuable horse from England, and it was among- his greatest delights 
to be mounted on his favorite animal. On a certain occasion, a number of gen- 
tlemen of Plymouth formed a party with Gen. Winslow, for a pleasure excur- 
sion to Saquish, in Plymouth harbor, and to return to dine in town. While 
there, Winslow fell asleep; the other gentlemen silently withdrew, and pur- 
sued their journey. When he awoke and found himself deserted, he mounted, 
and daringly phinged his steed into the channel, swam him across, more than 
half a mile, from whence he rode into town, making the whole distance but six 
miles, while his companions were riding fourteen miles. On their arrival, they 
were astonished to find the General seated in the tavern, prepared to greet them 
with a bowl of nunch. Thacher, 142. 



200 JOSIAS WINSLOW. 

yer, died at Natches, Mississippi, in 1820, where he had 
removed on account of his health. 

Edward, the younger brother of General John Wins- 
low, was an accomplished scholar, and a gentleman of 
fine taste. He resided in Plymouth, and together with 
his son, filled the offices of clerk of the court. Register 
of Probate and collector of the port. Being a professed 
royalist, he removed to Halifax with his family, soon after 
the commencement of hostilities, where he died, June 8^ 
1784, aged 72 years. The ceremonies at his funeral 
were in a style to confer the highest honor and respect 
on his memory. In consequence of his removal, his 
estate in his native town was confiscated, but every branch 
of his family was by the British Government amply pro- 
vided for during the remainder of their lives. His son^ 
Edward Winslow, Jr., was also an intelligent and accom- 
plished gentleman; he graduated at Harvard College in 
1765. He was one of the founders and most active 
members of the Old Colony Club, and his address on the 
22d of December, 1770, was the first ever delivered on 
the Pilgrim anniversary. Being friendly to the royal 
cause, he joined the British at Boston before the war 
commenced, and was afterwards appointed a Colonel in 
their service. He subsequently filled the offices of King's 
Counsellor, and Justice of the Supreme Court in New 
Brunswick, and' died at Frederickton, in May, 1815, 
aged 70.* 

* There are yet in existence some relics belonging to the Winslow family, 
A sitting chair which was screwed to the floor of the cabin of the Mayflower ; 
for the convenience of a lady : it is known to have been in the possession of 
Penelope Winslow, who married James Warren. This chair is now in posses- 
sion of a direct descendant from Peregrine White. A watch purse, composed 
of small beads, which was made by Penelope Pelham, while on her voyage to 
America. A curious ring, which contains the hair of governor Winslow ; and 
a pearl spoon. Thacher, 144. 



201 



VI. THOMAS HINCKLEY. 

The family of Hinckley was originally from the 
county of Kent, in England. At a small parish in that 
county, called Egerton, John Lothrop, the pastor of the 
church, had embraced the faith of the puritans, and in 
1623, renounced his orders in the church of England, 
and removed to London. He was followed by some of 
his parishioners, amongst whom was Samuel Hinckley, 
the father of Governor Hinckley. Mr. Lothrop, in 1624, 
became the second pastor of the first congregational 
church gathered in London, on the plan of that of Mr. 
Robinson, at Leyden. The church held their meetings 
privately, and escaped the vigilance of their persecutors 
for some time; but at length, in April, 1632, they were 
discovered by the pursuivant of the Archbishop, holding 
a meeting for religious worship at a house in Blackfriars. 
Forty-two of them were apprehended, and eighteen only 
escaped. Mr. Lothrop, with twenty-four others of his 
congregation, were imprisoned for about two years, 
when all but himself were released upon bail. Arch- 
bishop Laud obstinately refusing to pay any attention to 
his requests, Mr. Lothrop petitioned King Charles I., 
and was set at liberty, in April, 1634, on the condition 
offered, which he readily embraced, of departing from 
the kingdom. He now embarked for Boston, with 
about thirty of his church and people, where he arrived 
September 18, 1634, in the ship Griffin. On the 27th 
of the same month, he proceeded, with his friends, to 
Scituate, where a considerable settlement had already 
26 



202 THOMAS HINCKLEY. 

been made by " the men of Kent/' who gladly received 
Mr. Lothrop as a former acquaintance.* 

Mr. Hinckley was one of those who accompanied 
Mr. Lothrop to ^oston, and setded at Scituate. He 
was admitted a freeman in 1637^ and in 1639 removed 
to Barnstable. Some of the first settlers of Scituate and 
Barnstable^ were men of education and easy fortune, who 
had left homes altogether enviable, save in the single cir- 
cumstance of the abridgment of their religious liberty. 
The '^men of Kent," are duly celebrated in English his- 
tory, as men of gallantry, loyalty and courtly manners. 
Vassall, Hatherly, Cudworth, Tilden, Hinckley, and oth- 
ers had been accustomed to the elegances of life in Eng- 
land. They were men eminently qualified for transact- 
ing not only the municipal concerns of their settlements, 
but for taking an active and leading part in the govern- 
ment of the colony. 

Thomas Hinckley was born in 1621, and came to 
New England soon after his father had made a settle- 
ment at Barnstable. The mere recital of the various 
public duties he was called upon to perform, some of 
which were the most arduous and responsible, as well as 
the highest in the government, is sufficient to shew that 
he was a man of more than ordinary ability and influence. 

* Mr. Lothrop v/as educated at Oxford, as appears from Wood's AthensB 
Oxonienses. Morton says, "he was a man of a humble spirit, lively in dispen- 
sation of the word of God, studious of peace, willing to spend and be spent for 
the cause and church of Christ." He was twice married. Four sons came with 
him from England : Thomas, who settled at Eastham, where his son Thomas 
was born in 1640, then at Barnstable; Samuel, at Norwich, or New London, 
Conn.; Joseph, at Barnstable; and Benjamin at Charlestown, Mass. Barna- 
bas, and John, were born in this country, and settled at Barnstable. The Rev. 
Mr. Lothrop died in Barnstable, 8 Nov., 1653. His descendants are numerous. 
Mr. John Lothrop, of Boston, who wrote the memoir of the minister of Barn- 
stable, published in H Mass. Hist. Coll., i. 163, was a descendant. 



THOMAS HINCKLEY. 203 

In 1645, he was first elected a deputy from Barn- 
stable, and he was again elected in 1648, and at several 
subsequent periods. In 1658, when Mr. Cudworth, 
and Mr. Hatherly, two of the most excellent men in the 
colony, were proscribed and driven from office, on ac- 
count of their opposition to the rash measures against 
the Quakers, Mr. Hinckley, falling into the popular cur- 
rent, was chosen one of the assistants, and continued in 
that office by successive re-elections until the year 1681. 
At the election in 1680, Mr. Hinckley was specially 
designated as deputy governor, in consequence of the 
ill health of governor Winslow, whose death was appre- 
hended, and the extreme age of Mr. Alden,* who, as 
first assistant, would have succeeded to the chair, when 
vacant. In June, 1681, following the death of Josias 
Winslow, Mr. Hinckley was chosen governor, in which 
office (excepting for the short period of the rule of An- 
dros, when he was a counsellor,) he was continued until 
the separate existence of the colony of New Plymouth 
was terminated by its incorporation with Massachusetts, 
under the charter of 1692. Upon that event, he was 
named one of the counsellors of the province of Massa- 
chusetts Bay, under the new charter. 

The people of New Plymouth had for many years 
been anxious on the subject of obtaining a charter from 
the crown, similar to that of Connecticut. They held 
only under their patent from the Council of Plymouth^ 

* John Alden was one of the pilgrims of the Mayflower; settled at Dux- 
bury in 1640; was representative, 1641 to 1649; an assistant of the colony 
under every administration, except that of Governor Carver — in all, 42 years. 
lie married Priscilla, daughter of William Mullins, by whom he had eight chil- 
dren. He died 12 September, 16S7, aged 89. A memoir, written by President 
Alden, one of his descendants, is contained in Alden's American Epitaphs, iii. 
2G4. 



204 THOMAS HINCKLEY. 

which had no powers of sovereignty^ and which had long 
since ceased to exist. They had all along felt that they 
were at the mercy of the King, who mighty at any time, 
justify the dissolution of their charter, under the forms 
of his prerogative. They had consequently adopted a 
course of policy, which was designed to propitiate, as far 
as possible, the royal favor, and had received frequent 
assurances from Charles the Second, that a charter should 
be granted. 

The perils of the Indian war had been scarcely 
passed through, leaving the colony comparatively weak, 
when dangers of another character began to menace its 
existence. Massachusetts on the one hand, and New 
York on the other, were intriguing for the appropriation 
of New Plymouth to themselves. The former colony 
had on more than one occasion shown a disposition to 
extend her borders. The conquered country of Mount 
Hope, was originally included within the limits of the 
Plymouth jurisdiction ; and notwithstanding its complete 
separation from Massachusetts and contiguity to Ply- 
mouth ; notwithstanding it had been conquered princi- 
pally by the prowess of the people of this little colony, 
the government of Massachusetts endeavoured to wrest 
it from them, and to obtain a grant of its lands from the 
King. Rhode Island, too, which had not even participa- 
ted in the war, preferred a claim to the lands ; and John 
Crown, of Nova Scotia, alledging an obsolete claim of his 
father on the bounty of the King, nearly succeeded in 
obtaining the patent ; but the monarch finally granted the 
lands to Plymouth. This was the only royal grant made 
in New England of lands conquered from the Indians, 
and was made in consequence of these conflicting claims. 



THOMAS HINCKLEY. 205 

In the controversy ii])oi]t Mount Hope, Governor 
WinsloWj at the close of his administration, had found it 
expedient to cultivate the friendship of Edward Ran- 
dolph, afterwards so odious throughout New England as 
the tool of Andros, and who had already obtained an un- 
enviable notoriety in Massachusetts.* Governor Hinck- 
ley, well aware of the tortuous paths which marked all 
approaches to the royal ear, also kept up a good under- 
standing with Randolph, who engaged to do every thing 
in his power to obtain the charter. 

In September, 1681, General Cudw^orth was sent to 
England, as the agent for the colony. But dying not long 
after his arrival, he effected nothing, and his papers were 
lost. The ro^'al displeasure was now manifested against 
Massachusetts ; the quo warranto had issued against that 
colony; and the people of Plymouth were more than 
ever in suspense between their hopes and fears. They 
had already incurred the displeasure of the people of 
Massachusetts, by what w^as looked upon as a timid and 
time-serving policy ; and now, they were threatened with 
the mortification of finding all their professions of loyalty 
disregarded by the King, whose favor they had been so 
anxious to secure. Mr. Blaithwait, of the Plantation 
Office in London, on the 27th September, 1683, address- 

* Randolph, in a letter dated 29 Jan., 1680, to Governor Winslow, says — 
" I am received at Boston more like a spy, than one of his majesty's servants. 
They kept a day of thanks for the return of their agents; but have prepared a 
welcome for me, by a paper of scandalous verses, all persons taking liberty to 
abuse me in their discourses, of which I take the more notice, because it so 
much reflects upon my master, who will not forget it." The "scandalous ver- 
ses," to wiiicii Randolph alludes, are to be found in Farmer and Moore's Hist. 
Coll., iii. 30. Randolpli was the most inveterate and indefatigable of those in- 
triguing men wiio found access to the royal ear of Charles II., with complaints 
against the colonies. On this mischievous business, lie made no less than eigiit 
voyages in nine years across the Atlantic. He died in the West Indies. 



206 THOMAS HINCKLEY. 

ed Governor Hinckley, as follows : " I must deal plainly 
with you. It is not probable anything will be determined 
in that behalf until his majesty do see an issue of pro- 
ceeding in relation to the Massachusetts colony, and that 
upon regulating their charter, that colony be brought 
under such actual dependence upon the crown as becomes 
his majesty's subjects. From hence it will be, that your 
patent will receive its model ; and although you may be 
assured of all you desire, yet it will be expected that, in 
acknowledgment of so great favors, such provisions may 
be inserted as are necessary for the maintenance of his 
majesty's authority." 

Anxious, if possible, to keep alive an interest in the 
royal bosom, the general court, in November, 1683, for- 
warded another address, wherein they congratulated his 
Majesty upon his deliverance, in answer to their prayers 
they hoped, from the late horrid conspiracy ; and they 
had appointed the fifteenth instant for a day of solemn 
thanksgiving, for the salvation of his Majesty's royal per- 
son from that and other hellish conspiracies.* They go 
on to pray his Majesty's favor in granting them a char- 
ter, having sent over a true copy of their patent from the 
council of Plymouth. Randolph writes to the governor 
of Plymouth, the fourth of March following, that he had 
presented the address with the necessary amendments, to 
his Majesty in council, that it would be printed, was gra- 
ciously received, and that they would find the benefit of 
it, in the settlement of their affairs. Upon the death of 
Charles II., they were distinguished by James II., from 

" Reference is here made, probably, to the attempt to assassinate Cliarles II., 
at the Rye House Farm, near Hoddesdon, in Hertfordshire, on his way from 
Newmarket, called the Rye House Plot, 



THOMAS HINCIfLEY. 207 

the other colonics, by a letter under his sign manual, (26 
June, 16S5,) acquainting them with his accession to the 
tlirone, the great things the parliament had done, the de- 
feat of Argyle, and the landing at Monmouth, and the care 
taken to prevent his success ; all to prevent any false and 
malicious rumors that might be spread among his Majes- 
ty's subjects at that distance. An address was sent to 
the King, upon his accession, taking notice of the assur- 
ances they had received from his royal brother, and 
praying that his Majesty might fulfd them. This was 
their last effort,* prior to the revolution of 1689. 

Governor Hinckley took a deep interest in the efforts 
of the Society for propagating the Gospel among the In- 
dians. The labors of Eliot and the Mayhews had pro- 
duced good fruits, and it appears from a statement drawn 
up in 1685, by Governor Hinckley, that the number of 
christianized Indians in the colony had increased.! The 
duties which this new relation of christian amity between 
the natives and the English, imposed upon the govern- 
ment, were sometimes onerous. Governor Hinckley, in 
the statement above referred to, says — " Their manner is 
not to accept any to be praying Indians or Christians, 
but such as do, before some of their magistrates or civil 
rulers, renounce their former heathenish manners, and 
give up themselves to be praying Indians; neither do 
they choose any other than such to bear any ofiice 
among them. They keep their courts in several places, 
living so far distant one from another. Especially the 

* Hutchinson's Colony of Massachusetts Bay, 344. 

t According to the statement forwarded by Governor Hinckley to tlie cor- 
poration in England, there were at this time in the colony 1439 praying or 
christian Indians, besides boys and girls, under twelve years of age, which 
were supposed to be more than three times that number. 



208 THOIM^S HINCKLEY. 

four chief places often desire my help amongst them, at 
their courts, and often do appeal from the sentence of 
the Indian Judges to my determinationj in which they 
quiedy rest, whereby I have much trouble and expense of 
time among them, but if God please to bless my endea- 
vours to bring them to more civility and Christianity, I 
shall account my time and pains well spent. A great 
obstruction whereunto is the great appetite many of the 
young generation have after strong liquors, and the cov- 
etous evil humor of sundry of our English, in furnishing 
them therewith, notwithstanding all the court orders and 
means used to prohibit the same."* 

Governor Hinckley, in his religious views, more close- 
ly resembled the rigid Governor Prence, than the tolerant 
Winslow.f While a deputy, a law was passed, at his 
instance, and for that reason sometimes called " Hinck- 
ley's law," which provided, " that if any neglect the wor- 
ship of God in the place where he lives, and set up a 
worship contrary to God, and the allowances of this Gov- 
ernment, to the publick profanation of God's Holy Day, 
and ordinances, he shall pay 10 shillings." When the 
Quakers made their appearance in New Plymouth, it 
was attempted to enforce the penalty of this law ; but the 
attempt failed, " because the offender must do all things 
therein named, or else break not the law." General Cud- 
worth states the curious fact, that in March, 1658, a 
court of deputies was called, when, after passing sundry 
acts touching the Quakers, they contrived to make this 

* Hinckley Papers, Lib. Mass. Hist. Soc. In Davis' Morton, 407—415, is 
an interesting memoir of the situation and number of the Christian Indians, 
at that period in Massachusetts and New Plymouth colonies. 

i Randolph, in a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, dated 27 October, 
1686, characterises Governor Hinckley as "a rigid independent." 



THOMAS HINCKIiEY. 209 

act serviceable, by erasing the word "and" in^ the act, 
and inserting the word "or/' which, being disjunctive, 
made every branch a law. The alteration, (says Cud- 
worth,) though made in 1658, stands upon the record 
as the act of 1651, and was enforced to the letter against 
the Quakers.* 

When Mv. Hinckley came to the government of the 
colony, he endeavored to carry out the policy of sus- 
taining and extending a system of free schools, which he 
had advocated in the council of assistants, as well as to 
secure a competent support for the ministers of religion, 
then much neglected. When the first school was estab- 
lished by law in Plymouth in 1672, Mr. Hinckley had 
been appointed steward of the income set apart for its 
support, and had remaiiled its faithful and consistent 
champion. 

Prior to the year 1677, there was no law compelling 
the people to contribute for the support of public wor- 
ship. There had been no occasion for one. The people 
were as much devoted to religion as their ministers ; but 
as the ministers in a manner monopolized the learning 
of the colony, much of their time was employed in sec- 
ular affairs, and they were possessed of a leading influ- 
ence in the colony, and had sometimes consented to act 
as public oliicers. 

Whatever was bestowed upon them was by volunta- 
ry donation ; but as the colony increased in population, 
and new avocations engaged th.e attention of the people, 
they neglected the support of their teachers. New plan- 
tations also had been commenced, in which the poverty 
of the people afforded a plausible excuse for this neglect. 

* Sec Cudworths Letter, in Deane's Scituale, 247. 

27 



210 THOMAS HINCKLEY. 

Many came into the settlement^ who voted in all secular 
affairs^ and who felt but little interest in supporting pub- 
lic worship. 

The government of New Plymouth now saw or ima- 
gined, a necessity for .enforcing the support of religion 
by law. Mr. Hinckley was an earnest and influential ad- 
vocate of this policy. An act was passed in 1677, pro- 
viding for a tax upon the people for the support of their 
ordained ministers, and in the following year another act 
was passed, requiring each town and village in the colo- 
ny, to erect, finish, and keep in repair a house for pub- 
lic worship. 

The law required that all taxable persons, irrespective 
of their particular faith or belief, should contribute to the 
support of the regular cong^egational ministry; and 
though it was much complained of. Governor Hinckley 
insisted on the enforcement of its provisions against the 
Quakers, who were the most numerous and wealthy of 
the dissenting sects. After Dudley's short rule com- 
menced in 1686, the Quakers complained of the ex- 
action, as contrary to the King's design of universal 
toleration. Dudley's commission did not include New 
Plymouth, but Randolph, in a letter to Governor Hinck- 
ley, dated 22 June, 1686, undertakes to admonish the 
latter in the following terms : — ^^ Perhaps it will be as 
reasonable to move that your colony should be rated 
to pay our minister of the church of England, who 
now preaches in Boston, and you hear him not, as to 
make the Quakers pay in your colony."* Governor 
Hinckley complained of this as a great grievance, and 
contended that if the government was refused the right 

* Hutchinson's Hist. Colony of Mass. 357. 



THOMAS HINCKLEY. 211 

to lay taxes, lor the support of the ministry, the people 
would sink into barbarism. He knew that the puritans 
had now nothing to hope, but much to fear from the im- 
position of new laws by King James. He believed, as 
did most of the people of New Plymouth, that though 
it was pretended that the King was about to allow a uni- 
versal toleration, it was only the prelude to the introduc- 
tion of popery, and the imposition of grievous burthens 
upon the protestants. He continued, as heretofore, to 
enforce the collection of the tax for the clergy, until An- 
dros, in March, 1687, sent him the following instruc- 
tions: — "I am very much surprised you should issue 
forth so extraordinary a warrant as is now brought to 
me, under your hand and seal, dated the 12th of De- 
cember past, so much mistaken and assuming (for pay- 
ment of your minister) extrajudicially to command dis- 
tress to be made on tke goods of his Majesty's subjects. 
Out of respect to you, I have put a stop to the execution 
thereof, that neither the constable nor you may be ex- 
posed. Hoping you will be mindful of the station you 
are in, for his Majesty's service and the quiet of his sub- 
jects, that they be not amused nor troubled by mistaken 
notions, or clandestine illegal practices," &c. 

The despotic rule of Andros had now commenced. 
Plymouth had no charter to surrender, but the govern- 
ment was changed, and the colony was allowed no other 
voice in public affairs, than the votes of the seven men 
whom Andros had selected to be of his council. Gov- 
ernor Hinckley, although he had experienced rude treat- 
ment from Andros, accepted a seat in his council. 

King James the Second came to the throne in Febru- 
rary, 1685, and was proclaimed at Plymouth in April. 



212 THOMAS HINCKLEY. 

He determined to consolidate the governments in New 
England into one. Dudley, while the scheme was per- 
fecting, was commissioned temporarily as president of 
New England. But the royal grasp did not at first take in 
all of the colonies. New Plymouth and Connecticut 
were left out of the commission, until the appointment of 
Andros, in June, 1686, whose commission included all 
New England, excepting Connecticut, and of their char- 
ter he was subsequently authorized to receive the sur- 
render. 

Being without a charter, the government of Ply- 
mouth, having distinguished itself for loyalty, could now 
offer no resistance, and at once acknowledged and endea- 
vored to make the best of the rule of Andros. Seven . 
persons were selected from the colony of New Ply- 
mouth to be of the council of Andros, Governor Hinckley 
being the first named upon the «iist. For a time, Mr. 
Hinckley, acted as a judge of the prerogative court in 
Plymouth, established by Andros; but the governor as 
far as possible exercised the supreme power, civil and 
judicial, and tolerated no man in office, who was not his 
ready and willing instrument. 

Some writers have considered it a stain upon the 
character of Governor Hinckley, that he consented to 
accept office under Andros. Baylies says, " the reader 
who reflects upon the transactions of that day in the 
pilgrim colony, cannot but think that when Governor 
Hinckley consented to act as a counsellor to Andros, he 
fell from his elevation, and the brightness of his charac- 
ter was dimmed. When the government of any country 
is thrown into such hands, it is the wisest and best 
pohcy to retire to that station which then emphatically 



THOMAS HINCKLEY. 213 

becomes the post of honor. It is true that Governor 
Hinckley went far to redeem his character eventually, 
by his manly resistance to the tyranny of Andros, but it 
would have been better, both for his own reputation and 
the public good, had he never consented, by acting as his 
counsellor, to have swelled the vanity of a petty despot, 
and to have lent for a time the sanction of his high char- 
acter to lessen the odium of measures which soon be- 
came intolerable." "We tegret to find, (says Judge 
Davis,) that Governor Hinckley accepted a seat in the 
council, which suspended the ancient authorities of the 
country, and authorized or countenanced a course of 
arbitrary, vexatious, and oppressive proceedings. — It 
should be observed, however, that many of this council 
w^ere sincere well wishers to their country, and accepted 
a seat at the board, with a view of preventing injurious 
measures." 

If the subsequent acts of Mr. Hinckley, while of the 
council of Andros, are closely scanned, they will sustain 
the most favorable construction which has been placed 
upon his conduct. The colony possessed no charter; 
their affairs had been conducted under a constitution of 
their own, democratic in its forms and administration ; 
the people professing loyalty to the crown which had 
suffered them to enjoy their privileges. But they now 
saw that they were at the mercy of one of the most des- 
potic monarchs who ever filled the British throne — and 
it may well be conceived, that the object of Governor 
Hinckley might have been to watch over the interests of 
the colony, as far as it was possible for him to do. He 
did not consent to the measures of Andros, and very 
seldom attended the meetings of the council, after the 



214 THOMAS HINCKLEY. 

first. This was also the case with William Bradford, 
Barnabas Lothrop, and John Walley, who were coun- 
sellors with him from Plymouth Colony.* They never 
attended more than one or two of the meetings. Most 
of the counsellors of Massachusetts also absented them- 
selves, as they did not approve of the conduct of Gover- 
nor Andros. It appears from documents which remain, 
that Governor Hinckley was decidedly opposed to the 
exceptionable proceedings of Andros and his adherents. 
In his letter to Mr. Blaithwait of the Plantation office, 
dated June 28, 1687, there is a full and free expression 
of the many grievances which the colony suffered under 
Sir Edmund Andros' administration. A petition to the 
King, on the same subject, in October of that year, is 
more minute and emphatic. It is signed, ^^ Thomas 
Hinckley, in behalf of your Majesty's most ancient and 
loyal Colony of New Plymouth in New England." — In 
reference to the new patents and grants, which they were 
compelled to take for their lands, fairly acquired, and so 
long peaceably possessed, it is observed, that all the 
money left in the colony, would scarcely suffice ^^ to pay 
one half the charge for warrants, surveying and patents, 
if every one must be forced thereto." The whole course 

* Of Deputy Governor Bradford, a notice has already been given, in page 
88 of this volume. Barnabas Lothrop was son of the Rev^ John Lothrop, set- 
tled at Barnstable, was a deputy six years, and an assistant in 1681. He died 
in 1715, aged 79. John Walley was of Boston in 1671, was several times com- 
mander of the Anc. & Hon. Artillery, and colonel of the Boston regiment. Re. 
moving to New Plymouth, he was six years an assistant, one of the council 
under Andros in 1687, and with Bradford and Lothrop, counsellors under the 
charter of William and Mary, in 1692. He was judge of the supreme court of 
Massachusetts from 1700 to 1712, when he died at Boston, 11 January, aged 69. 
He commanded the expedition against Canada, in 1690, and his journal is pub- 
lished in the Appendix to Hutchinson's History of the Colony of Massachu- 
setts Bay, 554 — 566. 



THOMAS HINCKLEV. 215 

of Governor Hinckley, during this period of difficulty, 
seems to have been such, as to preserve the confidence 
of the people ; for immediately after the deposition and 
imprisonment of Andros, in 16S9, the ancient privileges 
of the colony of New Plymouth were resumed, and Gov- 
ernor Hinckley was again called to the chief magistracy. 

At this period of general despondency, the late gov- 
ernor of Plymouth, Mr. Hinckley, had the courage to lay 
at the foot of the throne, the complaints of the people. 
In their behalf, acting for the Plymouth colony, he pre- 
ferred a petition, in which the King was asked — 

^ That his majesty's subjects in New England might 
be quieted in possession of all property, both in houses 
and lands, as they enjoyed them before the government 
was changed on the 24th of May, 1686; and that the 
ancient records then settled for tides of lands, might be 
confirmed. 

' That there be liberty of conscience in matters of re- 
ligion ; that their former methods of swearing in giving 
evidence may be allowed ; and that all their meeting- 
houses might be left free to them, according to the inten- 
tion of the builders thereof. 

^ That no laws may be made nor moneys raised there, 
without the consent of a General Assembly, as it is in the 
other plantations. 

^ That all townships may have hberty to assemble and 
manage the business of their several precincts as under 
the former government, and have power to reserve and 
dispose of all voluntary contributions. 

^That the college at Cambridge in New England, 
and the revenues thereunto belonging, be confirmed in 
the hands of a president and fellows, as formerly.' 



216 THOMAS HINCKLEY. 

This petition^ and all others, were unheeded by the 
King, who seemed to be influenced by a blind infatuation, 
which, as it rendered him insensible to the perils by 
which he was immediately surrounded, could scarcely 
have been expected to have permitted him to become 
sensible of those which were more remote. But a period 
to the reign of misrule was at hand. Goaded to resist- 
ance by the conduct of Andros, the people rose in a 
body, and deposed him in April, 1689, and the news of 
the revolution in England immediately followed. It was 
hailed with joy in New Plymouth. 

Of the seven counsellors from Plymouth, Nathaniel 
Clark was the only one, who yielded a ready and servile 
compliance to the wishes of Andros. He of course be- 
came obnoxious to the people. The governor rewarded 
him with the grant of Clark's Island, in Plymouth har- 
bor.* As soon as the news of the imprisonment of An- 
dros was received, the people of Plymouth declared 
their detestation of Counsellor Clark, by a spirited mani- 
festo, which bears date April 22, 1689, setting forth 
his oppressions and his crimes, and declaring that they 
seized upon his person, resolving to secure him, for the 
hands of justice to deal with him according to his demer- 



* This island, which contains a little more than 80 acres of fertile land, was 
the earliest resting place of the Pilgrims from amidst the storm which they en- 
countered on the night of the 8th December, 1620, while coasting along the bay 
before their final landing. These circumstances probably led the people to at- 
tach a particular reverence to the spot. It was never sold, but reserved for the 
benefit of the poor of the town. When the people heard that Clark had ob- 
tained the grant, they met in town meeting, and determined at all hazards to 
reclaim the Island. Their town clerk and committee, together with the minis- 
ter of Duxbury, were thereupon arrested by order of Andros, and bound over 
for trial at Boston ; and Clark was already exulting in anticipation of the enr 
joyment of his acquisition, when the fall of Andros restored the Island to its- 
original proprietors. Thacher, 153. 



THOMAS HINCKLEY. 217 

its. He was accordingly imprisoned and put in irons, 
and the next year sent with Andros, his master, in the 
same ship to England. 

The members of the general court of New Plymouth, 
which was in existence in 1686, when the government 
of Andros commenced, were now summoned together. 
They assembled on the first Tuesday of June, 1689, and 
reinstated the former government, at the same time issu- 
ing the following declaration : " Whereas, through the 
great changes Divine Providence hath ordered out, both in 
England and in this country, we, the loyal subjects of the 
Crown of England, are left in an unsettled state, destitute 
of government, and exposed to the ill consequences there- 
of, and having heretofore enjoyed a quiet settlement of 
government, in this their Majesties' Colony of New Ply- 
mouth for more than three score and six years, without 
any interruption ; having also been, by the late Kings of 
England, by their royal letters, graciously owned and 
acknowledged therein ; whereby, notwithstanding our 
late unjust interruption, and suspension therefrom, by the 
illegal, arbitrary power of Sir Edmund Andros (now 
ceased) the general court held here, in the name of their 
present Majesties, William and Mary, King and Queen of 
England, S^c, together with the encouragement given by 
their said Majesties' gracious declarations, and in humble 
confidence of their said Majesties' good liking, do there- 
fore, hereby re-assume, and declare their re-assuming of 
their said former way of government, according to such 
wholesome constitutions, rules and orders, as were here 
in force, in June, 1686, our title thereto being warranted 
by prescription and otherwise as aforesaid, and expects a 
ready submission thereunto, by all their Majesties good 
28 



218 THOMAS HINCKLEY. 

subjects of this Colony, until their Majesties or this 
Court shall otherwise order, and that all our Courts be 
hereafter held and all warrants directed, and officers 
sworn, in the name of their Majesties, William and Mary, 
King and Queen of England." 

On the 6th of June, Governor Hinckley WTote to 
Sir Henry Ashurst, whom he styles "New England's 
friend," enclosing an address, from the Colony, to King 
WilUam and Queen Mary. Governor Hinckley had 
been requested to prepare it, and it was to include a 
prayer " for the re-establishment of their former liberties 
and privileges, both sacred and civil." " You will see," 
says he, " representations of our present estate, perhaps a 
little more particular than were proper in such an appli- 
cation!" This letter is acknowledged August 13, 1689 : 
" I do not make use of the liberty you gave me," says 
Sir H. Ashurst, "to alter or add any thing to your address, 
it being all of a piece, a grave, a seasonable and hand- 
some representation of your aifairs, which I delivered to 
the King, after I had read it to him. He returned a 
very gracious answer, that he would take care of the 
good of his Colonies in New England." 

Amongst the evils bequeathed by Andros to New 
England, was a harassing and destructive war with the 
Eastern Indians, known as King William's war, which 
commenced in 1689. Governor Hinckley, as one of the 
Commissioners of the Colonies, and of the council of war 
in New Plymouth, appears to have labored with zeal 
and promptitude in the necessary measures to prosecute 
the war. Major Benjamin Church, who had so distin- 
guished himself in the Narragansett war, was singled out 
for the command of the Plymouth forces by Governor 



THOMAS HINCKLEY. 219 

Hinckley, and was also invested with the command of 
the troops raised by Massachusetts. The war had not 
terminated, when the Colony of New Plymouth ceased 
to exist. 

Soon after the re-establishment of the former govern- 
ment, the people of Plymouth again turned their attention 
to the question of obtaining a charter. They were aware 
that their more powerful neighbors of Massachusetts, and 
the agents of New York, were each desirous of extend- 
ing their jurisdiction over the territory of New Ply- 
mouth. Amongst their own citizens, there were also 
some, who were beginning to favor the idea of annexa- 
tion to Massachusetts. 

It appears from the letters of Governor Hinckley, that 
while laboring to forward the measures necessary to ob- 
tain the charter, he was greatly discouraged at the diffi- 
culty of providing the means. He well understood the 
condition of the people. The debts of the colony 
were at this time not less than ^27,000. The general 
court had voted a tax for the gradual reimbursement of 
the debt; but the pecuniary distresses of the people 
were great; angry dissensions distracted the colony, and 
violent parties had been formed ; some refused to pay any 
taxes, particularly taxes imposed for the support of the 
ministers ; the people had become suspicious and irrita- 
ble; the authority of the government was not only 
doubted, but openly denied by those who disliked their 
proceedings. 

In this state of things, it was not wonderful that the 
sum necessary to defray the expenses of obtaining the 
charter could not be raised. Some of the towns sub- 
scribed their proportions, on condition that other towns 



220 THOMAS HINCKLEY. 

should do the same ; but others refusing, the subscription 
failed, as a matter of course. 

In February, 1690, the Rev. Ichabod Wiswall, the 
minister of Duxbury, went to England, in company with 
Messrs. Elisha Cooke, and Thomas Oakes, who were ap- 
pointed agents of Massachusetts fer procuring the con- 
firmation of the ancient charter of that colony. Soon 
after his departure, he was chosen an agent by Plymouth, 
to obtain the confirmation of their's; and subsequently, 
Increase Mather and Sir Henry Ashurst were appointed 
to act conjointly with him. Mather had previously fled 
from Massachusetts in disguise, during the administration 
of Andros, and embarked for England, in order to lay 
the complaints of that colony at the foot of the throne. 

The agents were faithful to their trust, but the desir- 
ed object could not be accomplished. In January, 1691, 
Cotton Mather thus writes to Governor Hinckley, refer- 
ring to letters received from his father — "I perceive, 
that about the middle of last November, God had so 
blessed his applications, as when all other means of resto- 
ration to our ancient liberties failed us, he had obtained 
of the King an order to the Judges, Holt and Pollexfen, 
and the Attorney and Solicitor-General, to draw up a 
new charter for us, which was done, but just as the ves- 
sel came away, and waited for the broad seal. Gover- 
nor Sclater (Sloughter) of New York, had Plymouth 
put into his commission, but purely through my father's 
industry and discretion, he procured the dropping of it. 
Our friends at Whitehall assured him, that if he had pe- 
titioned for a charter to be bestowed upon Plymouth, by 
itself, there had none been obtained for you, nor for us 
neither ; wherefore he procured Plymouth to be inserted 



THOMAS HINCKLEY. 221 

in our grant. 13ut wlicn Mr. Wiswall understood it^ he 
came and told my father your Colony would all curse him 
for itj at which the Solicitor-General, being extreme- 
ly moved, presently dashed it out, so that you are now 
again like to be annexed unto the government of New 
York, and if you find yourselves thereby plunged into 
manifold miseries, you have none to thank for it but one 
of your own." 

This intelligence excited much uneasiness and alarm 
in Plymouth Colony. The Rev. Mr. Cotton in a letter 
to Governor Hinckley, Feb. 6, 1691, urges him to re- 
pair to England, and to use his best endeavors to pre- 
vent the meditated arrangement. He assures the Gover- 
nor that this is the opinion of many men of " wisdom, 
prudence, and piety," with whom he had consulted. " I 
believe none amongst us," he adds, " will be free to trust 
any but yourself; and as for the many hundreds of 
pounds, that must be collected to defray the charge of 
such an undertaking, I find, amongst us, great readiness, 
maugre all our great charges, to contribute liberally there- 
to." Mr. Cotton appears to have overrated the ability 
or disposition of the people, to make the necessary con- 
tributions. 

The Court met in March, and with " hearty thanks," 
expressed to Sir Henry Ashurst, Rev. Mr. Mather, and 
Rev. Mr. Wiswall, besides a grant to Sir Henry Ashurst 
of fifty guineas, and to the other two gentlemen of twen- 
ty-five guineas each, voted to raise j6200 more, to be re- 
mitted "toward the charge of procuring a charter." Sir 
Henry Ashurst was appointed sole agent, but was request- 
ed to advise with I\Ir. Mather and Mr. Wiswall. The 
amount voted, was not in the treasury, and a subscrip- 



222 THOMAS HINCKLEY. 

tion was openedj to raise the requisite sum, in the several 
towns^ under the direction of the deputies. 

It appears by subsequent letters^ from Governor 
Hinckley to Messrs. Wiswall and Mather^ that the whole 
sum was not raised, and what was collected was returned 
to the subscribers. 

In a letter to Mr. Mather, dated 16 October, 1691, 
Governor Hinckley says — " Your service in keeping us 
from New York, and all other intimations for the good of 
this colony, is thankfully received, and it would have been 
well pleasing to myself and sundry others of the most 
thinking men, who are desirous of supporting the minis- 
try and schools of learning, to have been annexed to 
Boston, yet the greater part of the people, and of our 
deputies, are most desirous of obtaining a charter for 
themselves, if possible to be procured, though so far as I 
can discern, they had much rather be annexed to the 
Massachusetts than New York, yet are not wilhng to 
ha^ve it mentioned, lest it should divert any endeavours for 
obtaining a distinct charter for themselves. It was voted 
that two hundred pounds should be raised by a voluntary 
contribution. On trial made, though some particular 
men and towns did contribute liberally, yet others, by 
reason of the great charge of the war, and partly being 
discouraged by some leading men telling them that they 
would but throw away their money, that they never would 
be like to obtain a charter, nor you neither for the Mas- 
sachusetts, thereby the sum proposed fell considerably 
short, and by the court's order, the whole sum not being 
raised, none was to be sent. Not being in a capacity to 
make rates for any equal defraying the charge, I see little 
or no likelihood of obtaining a charter for us, unless their 



THOMAS HINCKLEY. 223 

majesties, out of their royal bounty and clemency^ gra- 
ciously please to grant it, siih forma jmupcris, to their 
poor and loyal subjects of this colony." The letter to Mr. 
Wiswall is in the same strain, with the additional commu- 
nication of some turbulent proceedings, in contempt of 
the authority of the Colony, particularly in the county of 
Bristol, in regard to taxes for operations against the 
French, in whicli he says, the people about Dartmouth 
and Litde-Compton, were supported by Governor 
Sloughter, who arrived in New York in March, 1691. 

Before these letters were w^ritten,. however, the bus- 
iness was completed in England. The charter granted 
to Massachusetts, in which Plymouth was included, bears 
date October 7th, 1691. Mr. Wiswall could not be 
reconciled to this arrangement, and strongly expressed 
his feelings on the occasion, in a letter to Mr. Hinckley, 
dated the 5th of November following : ^^ I do believe Ply- 
mouth's silence, Hampshire's neglect, and the rashness 
and impudence of one, at least, who went from New 
England in disguise by night, hath not a little contributed 
to our general disappointment. Plymouth, the JMassa- 
chusetts, as far west as the Narragansett country, and 
northward three miles beyond Merrimack river, the 
province of Maine, and the lands from Sagadehoc east- 
ward as far as the easternmost extent of Acadia or Nova 
Scotia, are clapt into one province, under such restrictions 
as I believe will not be very acceptable to those inhabi- 
tants who must lose their ancient names. There are in 
the new charter 28 counsellors (of which 4 for Pli- 
mouth) a governor and a deputy, all nominated by one 
who acts as if he were a sole plenipotentiary. The gov- 
ernor, deputy and secretary are to be nominated and con- 



224 THOMAS HINCKLEY. 

tinued only durante bene placito. Sir W. P. hath one 
that hiboiirs hard for his advancement.* I only reflect on 
New England's condition under this juncture of Provi- 
dence, much like that of the Jews under Cyrus ascending 
the throne of their oppressor. At his first appearance^ 
they were in hope to rebuild their city and sanctuary, 
but were deprived of their expected privileges all his 
days by ill minded counsellors. All the frame of heaven 
moves on one axis, and the whole of New England's in- 
terest seems designed to be loaden on one bottom, and 
her particular motions to be concentric to the Massachu- 
setts tropic. You know who are wont to trot after the 
bay-horse ; your distance is your advantage, by which 
you may observe their motions. Yet let me remind you 
of that great statesman, Ecclesiastes, viii. 14. Few wise 
men rejoice at their chains. Doubtless it would be ac- 
counted hypocrisy before God, and ground of despair 
among men, to see any person receive and entertain the 
present and undeniable evidences of his disappointment, 
with the usual testimonies and comphments attending the 
desire accomplished." 

Mr. Wiswall in this, and in other letters, indulges in 
severe remarks on Mr. Mather, as if it were by his man- 
agement, that the union of Plymouth with Massachusetts 
was effected ; but there is reason to believe that his jeal- 
ousies, on this subject, were unfounded. Mr. Mather 

* The Rev. Mr. Wiswall here refers to Sir William Phips, upon whose ap- 
pointment as governor in 1692, Cotton Mather exultingly exclaims — " The time 
has come ! the set time has come ! I am now to receive an answer to so many 
prayers. All of the Counsellors of the Province are of my own father's nomi- 
nation, and my father-in-law, with several related tome, and several brethren 
of my own church, are among them. The Governor of the Province is not my 
enemy, but one I baptized ; namely. Sir William Phips, one of my own flock, 
and one of my dearest friends." — Diary of Cottpn Mather. 



THOMAS HINCKLEY. 225 

undoubtedly exerted himself to prevent the annexation 
of Plymouth to New York; and from an attentive ex- 
amination of all accessible documents, on the subject, 
there appears no reason to doubt his fidelity and sincerity, 
in regard to Plymouth, as well as Massachusetts.* All 
his influence and that of his friends, and of the country's 
friends in England, which w^as very considerable, could 
not, probably, however exerted, have prevented the an- 
nexation of Plymouth, either to New York or to Massa- 
chusetts. 

There appears no evidence of discontent on the part 
of Plymouth to this measure, after it was adopted. Gov- 
ernor Hinckley, in the letter already quoted, says to Dr. 
Mather, ^*^ that it would be well pleasing to himself and 
sundry other of the most thinking men, who are desirous 
of supporting the ministry and schools of learning,'' to 
be annexed to Massachusetts. Plymouth Colony had 
done worthily, during its separate existence. This was 
then acknowledged, and will be acknowledged in all future 
time ; but there has, probably, been no period since the 
union, in which that transaction has been regretted by the 
people inhabiting the territory. The similarity of charac- 
ter, and identity of interests of every description, ren- 

* Dr. Mather opposed the proceedings of Andros, in Massaclinsotts, with 
such boldness and energy, that he was obliged to leave the province to escape 
his tyranny. He was in England at the time of the revolution of IGS3, and 
acquired great influence with the new government. Being considered the head 
and representative of the clergy of Massachusetts, the ministers of the Crown 
were desirous to conciliate him; well knowing that in fact the ecclesiastical 
was the predominating estate of the Colonial realm. To this end they gave 
him the nomination of the governor, counsellors, and all the officers appointed 
under the new charter. Quincy's Harv. Univ., i. 59. A knowledge of these 
facts probably led the honest minded Mr. Wiswall to believe that Dr. Mather 

possessed sufficient influence to have preserved the independence of New Dy- 

mouth, had he chosen to exert it. 

29 



226 THOaiAS HINCKLEY. 

dered such a union rational and desirable^ and it is ob- 
servable that the people of New Hampshire^ as Dr. Bel- 
knap informs us^ would gladly have been annexed to the 
same government, and indeed, petitioned for such a union 
by a convention of deputies assembled for that purpose. 
The measure was defeated only by the influence of the 
heirs or assignees of some great proprietors.* It is to 
the honor of Massachusetts, that none have had reason ta 
regret a comprehension with her jurisdiction, and that 
her history, in every stage of her progress, exhibits mul- 
tiplied instances of magnanimity, public spirit, and regard 
to the best interests of man. 

By the new charter of 1691, four, at least, of the 
twenty-eight counsellors, were to be from the territory, 
^' formerly called New-Plymouth." The four gentlemen 
named for this purpose in the charter, were Thomas 
Hinckley, William Bradford, John Walley, and Barna- 
bas Lothrop.f 

Governor Sloughter having arrived at New York, 
previous to the arrival of Sir William Phips with the 
new charter of Massachusetts, attempted to exercise his 
authority in the jurisdiction of New Plymouth, and issued 
his orders as though it was a part of the province of New 
York ; but the arrival of Phips at Boston, with the char- 
ter, 14th May, 1692, occasioned their immediate suspen- 
sion. A court having been summoned by the new gov- 
ernor, on the 8th of June following, the province of 
Massachusetts Bay proceeded to exercise her newly ac- 
quired authority without interruption. She had emerged 
from her colonial state, to be a province of the empire ; 

* See Belknap's Hist, of New-Hampshire, (Farmers edit.) 123. 
) Davis' note, Morton's Memorial, 473—477. 



THOMAS FIINCKLEY. 227 

she had become sufficiently powerful to attract the notice 
of the monarch ; and her democratic tendencies were 
henceforth to be more carefully watched by the ministers 
of the crown. New Plymouth quietly submitted to her 
younger sister, and the amalgamation of the two colonies 
was soon perfected. 

The last general court of the colony was summoned, 
and met at Plymouth on the first Tuesday of July — and 
the last exercise of power by that body was the appoint- 
ment of a day of solemn fasting and humiliation. The 
days of the colony of New Plymouth were numbered ! 

The population of the colony at this period was about 
thirteen thousand. There was little trade, and a heavy 
debt impended over them. The whole personal prop- 
erty of individuals was but litde more than sufficient to 
discharge the general debt, which had grown out of 
the great Indian war. Yet there were here the elements 
and seeds of that wealth, which in the next century was 
developed, by the patience, honesty, industry, and ener- 
gy of the people. 

During the whole period of the independent exist- 
ence of this colony, the government, almost self-constitut- 
ed, had been respected and obeyed. It was found fully 
equal to the exigences of peace and war ; and to the ac- 
complishment of the great end of all governments, the 
security of the rights of persons, and of property ; and by 
a firm and steady course of action, it was able to produce 
a universal consciousness of that security. 

The question may very naturally be asked, how it 
happened that a population of adventurers, without mili- 
tary force, and with little wealth, which is unquestiona- 
bly a formidable element of power, and by which men 



228 THOMAS HINCKLEY. 

often make their rule acceptable ; and with an equality 
as general as was possible in any country which had a 
government ; could, without the sanction of a royal char- 
ter, and without the interference of the metropolis, which 
in infant colonies is generally imperative and absolute, sus- 
tain themselves so long, and without tumults and com- 
motions, do every thing essential to the well being of the 
community ? This question finds its solution in the re- 
ligious character of the people. Worldly objects were 
with them secondary, and that curse of all small and 
independent communities, political ambition, found no 
place amongst them. The highest offices were not sought, 
but the services of such as were fit to sustain them were 
demanded as the right of the people, and they were ac- 
cepted, not for the sake of distinction, emolument or pleas- 
ure, but from a sense of duty. Fearful of the loss of rep- 
utation, men underwent the severe and painful duties 
which such offices required. 

Where there was no strife for power, no temptation 
in the shape of emolument, and no passion for official dis- 
tinctions, small was the danger of feuds and factions. 

The junction of Plymouth with Massachusetts des- 
troyed all the political consequence of the former. 
The people of Plymouth shared but few of the favors 
which the new government had to bestow, and it was sel- 
dom indeed, that any resident in what was termed ^ the 
old colony' obtained any office or distinction in the 
provincial government, or acquired any influence in its 
councils. 

Plymouth, however, may well be proud of the high 
distinction which has been acquired by many of her 
native sons, when placed in a more genial clime. 



THOMAS HINCKLEY. 229 

She has rurnished hvv lull proportion of talent^ 
genius, learning and enterprise, in almost every depart- 
ment of life; and in other lands the merits of the pos- 
terity of the pilgrims have been acknowledged. They 
may be found wherever the sway of the American repub- 
lic is acknowledged, and even in the armies and navies, 
and in the councils of our ^^ father land," they have won 
their way to eminence, not by the aid of birth or family 
connections, but by the force of superior merit and trans- 
cendent ability. Among the proudest names in the 
British navy, may be found the descendant of the origi- 
nal purchaser of IMattapoisett in Swansey,* and attached 
to the tide of one of the most distinguished of the Eng- 
lish peerage, is the name of one of the early settlers of 
Scituate.f 

In one respect, the people of the Old Colony pre- 
sent a remarkable exception to the rest of America. 
They are perhaps the purest English race in the world; 
there is scarcely an intermixture even w^ith the Scotch 
or Irish, and none with the aboriginals. Almost all 
the present population are descended from the origi- 
nal English settlers. Many of them still own the lands 
which their early ancestors rescued from the wilder- 
ness, and although they have spread themselves in every 

* Mattapoisett Neck, in Swansey, was purchased by William Brenton, 
governor of Rhode Island, of Philip, the sachem of Mount Hope, by deed 
dated 23 June, 1G64. Jahleel Brenton, grandson of Governor Brenton, had 
twenty-two children. His fourth son, Jahleel, born 22 Oct. 1720, entered the 
British navy when a 3'outh, distinguished himself in service, and rose to the 
rank of admiral. He died in 1802. His son, Jahleel, was bred to the sea, rose 
to be an admiral, and was knighted in 1810. 

f Thomas Richard, the third Lord Holland, married an heiress of the name 
of Vassall, and his son, Henry Richard Fox V^assall, is the present Lord Hol- 
land, Baron Holland in Lincolnshire, and Foxley in W^ilts. Playfair's British 
Family Antiquities, ii. 182. 



230 THOMAS HINCKLEY. 

direction through this wide continent^ from the penin- 
sula of Nova Scotia to the gulf of Mexico^ some one of 
the family has generally remained to cultivate the soil 
which was owned by his ancestors. The fishermen and 
navigators of Maine, the children of Plymouth, still con- 
tinue the industrious and bold pursuits of their forefath- 
ers. In that fine country, beginning at Utica in the State 
of New York, and stretching to Lake Erie, this race may 
be found on every hill and in every valley, on the rivers 
and on the lakes. The emigrant from the sand banks of 
Cape Cod, revels in the profusion of the agricultural op- 
ulence of Ohio. In all the southern and southwestern 
states, the natives of the ^ old colony,' like the Armenians 
of Asia, may be found in every place where commerce 
and traffic offer any lure to enterprise; and in the heart 
of the gigantic peninsula of Michigan, like their ances- 
tors, they have commenced the cultivation of the wilder- 
ness, like them, originally surrounded with savage beasts 
and savage men, and like them, patient in suffering, des- 
pising danger, and animated with hope.* 

* Baylies, in conclusion of his Hist, of New Plymouth. The following re- 
marks of President Dwight, when contemplating the history of New Plymouth, 
may be appropriately added : "The institutions, civil, literary and religious, by 
which New England is distinguished on this side the Atlantic, began here. 
Here the manner of holding lands in free soccage, now universal in this coun- 
try, commenced. Here the right of suffrage was imparted to every citizen, to 
every inhabitant not disqualified by poverty or vice. Here was formed the first 
establishment of towns, of the local legislature, which is called a town meeting, 
and of the peculiar town executive, styled the selectmen. Here the first paro- 
chial school was set up, and the system originated for communicating to every 
child in the community the knowledge of reading, writing, and arithmetic. 
Here, also, the first building was erected for the worship of God ; the first re- 
ligious assembly gathered ; and the first minister called and settled, by the voice 
of the church and congregation. On these simple foundations has since been 
erected a structure of good order, peace, liberty, knowledge, morals and reli- 
gion, with which nothing on this side the Atlantic can bear a remote compari- 
son." 



THOMAS HINCKLEY. 231 

Governor Hinckley died at Barnstable^ in 1706, and 
the following inscription is placed upon his tombstone : 
" Beneath this stone, erected A. D. 1829, are deposited 
the mortal remains of Thomas Hinckley. He died A. 
D. 1706, aged 85 years. History bears witness to his 
piety, usefulness, and agency in the public transactions 
of his time. The important offices he was called to fill, 
evidence the esteem in which he was held by the people. 
He was successively elected an assistant in the govern- 
ment of Plymouth colony, from 1658 to 1681, and gov- 
ernor, except during the interruption of Sir Edmund 
Andros, from 1681 to the junction of Plymouth colony 
with Massachusetts." 

Governor Hinckley's first ^vife was Mary Richards, 
whom he married in 1641, and his sons by this marriage 
were Samuel, born in 1652, and Thomas, in 1654. She 
died soon after, and in 1659, he married Mary, the 
widow of Nathaniel Glover, son of the Hon. John 
Glover of Dorchester. She was the daughter of Lau- 
rence Smith, called Quarter-Master Smith, who came 
from England in 1635, with his family, and settled at 
Dorchester, Massachusetts. Governor Hinckley's chil- 
dren, by his second marriage, were one son, Ebenezer, 
and five daughters, one of whom married the Rev. Ex- 
perience Mayhew, father of the celebrated Dr. Jonathan 
Mayhew. Another daughter, Mercy, in 1686, married 
Samuel Prince of Sandwich, the father of the Rev. 
Thomas Prince, the chronologist. Mr. Prince speaks 
in the following terms of the second Mrs. Hinckley : 
" She, to the day of her death, appeared and shone, in 
the eyes of all, as the loveliest and brightest woman for 



232 THOMAS HINCKLEY. 

beauty, knowledge, wisdom, majesty, accomplishments 
and graces, throughout the colony." 

Descendants of Governor Hinckley, of great re- 
spectability, are found in Massachusetts, New York, and 
in the southern states. Hon. Samuel Hinckley, of North- 
ampton, Massachusetts, who died 15 June, 1840, was 
a descendant of Governor Hinckley. Judge Hinckley 
was a soldier in the revolutionary war, and was wounded 
in an engagement near the Hudson. He was a classmate 
in college with Governor Griswold, Judge Baldwin, and 
Chancellor Kent. He was greatly esteemed for the 
purity of his character, his extensive liberality, and de- 
voted patriotism. 

Among the manuscripts in the library of the Massa- 
chusetts Historical Society, are 3 vols, folio, of papers 
collected by Governor Hinckley. They contain a mass 
of valuable information relating to the early history of the 
Old Colony. 



PART II. 



GOVEENORS OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 



1630—1689. 



30 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 



The Council of Plymouth for New England, established by 
James I. in November, 1620, instead of engaging in the work of 
planting colonics, contented itself with the revenues it. could com- 
mand from the sale of patents. The Pilgrims had crossed the ocean 
to New Plymouth, and before the returning ships had brought in- 
telligence of their success, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Capt. John 
Mason, who were active members of the Council, had each made 
application for giants of territory in New England. 

On the 9th of March, 1621, a ])atent was issued to Mason, 
granting all the lands from Salem river, round Cape Anne, to the 
river Merrimack, and up each of these rivers to their sources, and 
across from the head of one to the. other. This district was called 
Mariana. 

On the 10th of August following, a grant was made to Gorges 
and Mason, of the whole country between the sea, the St. Law- 
rence, the Merrimack, and the Kennebeck. And to this they gave 
the name of Laconia. 

A third patent was issued, lOlh September, 1621, to Sir Wil- 
liam Alexander, granting all the territory east of the river St. Croix, 
and south of the St. Lav/rence, already known as the Acadie of 
the French, and since called Nova Scotia. 

A fourth patent, granting a tract of ten miles on the Massachu- 
setts Bay, and extending thirty miles into the interior, was issued 
on the 13th December, 1622, to Robert Gorges, son of Sir Ferdi- 
nando Gorges. 

The fame of the plantation at New Plymouth had spread 
throughout England ; but few settlements were made prior to the 
year 1629. Weymouth, the ancient Wessagusset, is the oldest set- 



236 INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 

tlement in what was the colony of Massachusetts Bay, being settled 
by a company under Thomas Weston in 1622. 

In 1625, a plantation v;as commenced at Braintree. About 
the year 1626, William Blackstone settled on the peninsula of 
Boston, and in the autumn of the same year, the settlement which 
had been commenced at Cape Anne in 1625, under the auspices 
of the Rev, Mr. White, of Dorchester, in England, was removed 
to Salem. A solitary pioneer had pitched his tent upon the heights 
of Charlestown in 1627, and was joined by a few persons from 
Salem in the following year. 

On the 19th of March, 1628, the Council for New England 
sold to Sir Henry Roswell and others, a belt of land, stretching 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, extending three miles south of the 
River Charles and the Massachusetts Bay, and three miles north 
of the Merrimack. Through the instrumentality of Mr. White, 
other persons of wealth and character became associated with them, 
and afterwards purchased rights in the patent. Among these were 
John Winthrop, Isaac Johnson, Matthew Cradock, Thomas Goffe, 
and Sir Richard Saltonstall. The company soon after chose Mat- 
thew Cradock their governor, and sent over a few people under 
Capt. John Endecott to prepare for the settlement of a colony. 

On the fourth of March, 1629, Charles I. granted a patent to 
these colonists, under the name of " The Governor and Company 
of the Massachusetts Bay in New England," and the grantees im- 
mediately settled a form of government for the new Colony. But 
on the 29th of August, 1629, the company, after much discussion, 
decided that the government and patent of the plantation should 
be transferred from London to the Massachusetts Bay, and that 
their corporate powers should be executed there. From this period 
dates the foundation and permanent settlement of the colony. 
Early in the spring of 1630, the fleet which conveyed Governor 
Winthrop and his company to America sailed from the shores of 
England. Further particulars of the history of some of these 
men, will appear in the following pages. 



GOVERNOHS OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 



I. JOHN WINTHROP. 



JoHx WiNTHROP, the first governor of Massachusetts, 
was descended from a family remarkable for its attachment 
to the reformed religion, from the earliest period of the 
Reformation. His grandfather, Adam Winthrop, was an 
eminent lawyer and lover of the Gospel in the reign of 
Henry VHI., and brother to a memorable friend of the 
Reformation in the reign of Mary I., in whose hands the 
martyr Philpot left his papers, which make a considera- 
ble part of the history of the Martyrs. His father, Adam 
Winthrop, was a gentleman of the same profession and 
character.* 

Governor Winthrop was born at the family-seat at 
Groton, in Suffolk, January 12, 1588,f and was bred to 
the law, though he had a very strong inclination to theo- 
logical studies. At the age of eighteen, he was made a 
justice of the peace, and his virtues became conspicuous. 
He was exemplary in his profession, as an upright and 
impartial magistrate, and in his private character, as a 
christian. He had wisdom to discern, and fortitude to 

* Adam Winthrop, the elder, was buried the 12 Nov., 15G2. — Parish Regis- 
ter of Groton. No doubt this was the grandfather of Gov. Winthrop; and 
probably to him was made the grant of the manor of Groton from Henry VIII. 
after the suppression of the religious houses. Savage, in III Mass. Hist. Coll., 
viii. 297. 

i Dr. Belknap, copying from Mather, places his birth in 1587, but from Sa- 
vage's notes to Winthrop's Journal, i. 63, and ii. 338, it appears that he was born 
January 12th, 15S8. 



238 JOHN WINTHROP. 

do right in the execution of his office ; and as a gentle- 
man was remarkable for liberality and hospitality. These 
qualities rendered him dear to men of sobriety and reli- 
gion^ and fitted him to engage in the great and difficult 
work of founding a colony. 

After our fathers at New Plymoiithj through many 
difficulties^ had prepared the way^ and the fame of their 
successful enterprise had spread over England, many of 
those who disliked the corruptions and oppressions of 
the English Churchy made preparations for a removal 
to America. The Rev. John White, a zealous puritan, 
of Dorchester in England, succeeded in persuading a 
number of wealthy men to commence a settlement at 
Cape Anne, under the guidance of Roger Conant, 
who had previously been at Plymouth and Nantasket. 
The little company had gathered at Cape Anne in 1625, 
but in 1626, found a more convenient refuge at Salem, 
where '^they resolved to remain as the sentinels of puri- 
tanism in the Bay of Massachusetts."* 

At this time, liberty of conscience could not be en- 
joyed in England. Many were so harassed for their 
non-conformity, that they determined rather to make 
settlements in a dreary wilderness, at the distance of three 
thousand miles from their native country, than endure 
the persecution to which they were constantly exposed. 
They emigrated, not for the advantages of trade, but for 
religion,'' and the enjoyment of liberty of conscience. 
They wished to transmit the blessings of civil and reli- 
gious liberty, to their posterity.! 

The Council for New England, on the 19th of March, 
1628, sold to Sir Henry Roswell, Sir John Young, 

* Bancroft, i. 339. t Ramsay's Univ. Hist., i. 79. 



JOHN WINTHUOP. 239 

John Humphrey, John Endecott, Simon Whetcomb and 
Thomas Southcoat, all from the vicinity of Dorchester, a 
patent for all that part of New England lying between 
three miles to the southward of Charles river and three 
miles to the northward of Merrimack river, and in length 
within the prescribed breadth, from the Atlantic ocean 
to the South Sea, or Pacific* The Rev. Mr. White of 
Dorchester, who was at this time zealously engaged in 
projecting an asylum for the persecuted non-conformists, 
soon interested other and powerful friends to become as- 
sociates in the enterprise.! These associates were John 
Winthrop, Isaac Johnson, Matthew Cradock, Thomas 
Goffe, and Sir Richard Saltonstall, who afterwards pur- 
chased rights in the patent. Three of the original pur- 
chasers parted with all their rights; but Humphrey, En- 
decott, and Whetcomb retained an equal interest with the 
new parties.! 

The company soon after chose Matthew Cradock 
governor, and Thomas Goffe, deputy governor, with 

* Chalmers, 135. 

t Rev. John White, A. M. was a native of Stanton St. John in Oxfordshire, 
where lie was born in 1576, graduated at Oxford, and in 1606, became the rec- 
tor of Trinity church in Dorchester, where he continued with little interruption 
above forty years. He was one of the earliest friends of the projected colony 
in Massachusetts, his object being to provide an asylum for the persecuted 
non conformists. He met with numerous discouragements, and it is said that 
the undertaking was about to be relinquished, and those who had settled in the 
new plantation were about returning home, when they received letters from Mr. 
White assuring them, that if they would endure their painful conflict a little 
longer, he would procure for them a patent, and all the necessary supplies for 
the new settlement. They waited the event, and he made his pi m ood. 
He was one of the committee on religion appointed in 1640, by the House of 
Lords, and one of the assembly of divines in 1643. He died at Dorchester, 
Ertg. 21 July, 1643, aged 72. He was usually called " the patriarch of Dorches- 
ter," and Wood says, the puritans "had more respect for him than even for 
their diocesan." Mr. John White, the ejected non-conformist, was his son. 
Brooke's Lives of the Puritans, iii. 88. 

t Prince, 171. Mass. Colony Records. 



240 JOHN WINTHROP. 

eighteen assistants ; and sent over a few people under the 
government of John Endecott^ to carry on the plantation 
at Naumkeakjand prepare for "settling a colony. Ende- 
cottj on his arrival^ laid the foundations of Salem, the 
first permanent town in Massachusetts. 

When the news reached London, of the safe arrival 
of the emigrants, the number of the adventurers had been 
much enlarged. Interest was made to obtain a royal 
charter, with the aid of Richard Bellingham, and of 
White, an eminent lawyer, who advocated the design. 
The earl of Warwick had always been the friend of the 
company ; Gorges had seemed to favor its advancement, 
and Lord Dorchester, then one of the secretaries of state, 
is said to have exerted a powerful influence in its behalf.* 

At last, on the fourth of March, 1629, the royal pa- 
tent passed the seals, incorporating the associates as a 
body politic, by the name of " The Governor and Com- 
pany of the Massachusetts Bay in New England,'' with 
as full powers as any other corporation in the realm of 
England.! The company was empowered to elect for- 
ever, out of the freemen of said company, a governor, 
deputy governor, and eighteen assistants, to be newly 
chosen on the last Wednesday in Easter term yearly, by 
the greater part of the company ; and to make laws not 
repugnant to the laws of England. Matthew Cradock 

* Bancroft, i. 342. 

t See charter in Hazard, i. 239 — 255. The grantees named in this patent 
are — Sir Henry Roswell, Sir John Young, Sir Richard Saltonstall, Thomas 
Southcoat, John Humphrey, John Endccott, Simon JVhetcomb, Isaac Johnson, 
Samuel Aldersley, John Yen, Matthew Cradock, George Harwood, Increase 
Nowell, Richard Perry, Richard Bellingham, Nathaniel Wright, Samuel Vassal], 
Theophilus Eaton, Thomas GofFe, Thomas Adams, John Browne, Samuel 
Browne, Thomas Hutchins, William Vassall, William Pinchion, George Fox- 
croft. [The names in italics, are of the original purchasers.] 



JOHN WIXTHROP. 241 

was constituted the first governor, and Thomas GofTe 
the deputy governor. Sir Richard Saltonstall, and 17 
other persons were constituted assistants. 

A court of the Massachusetts company was soon after 
holden at London, and settled a form of government 
for the new colony. It ordained, that thirteen persons, 
such as should be reputed the most wise, honest, expert, 
and discreet, resident on the colonial plantation, should, 
from time to time, have the sole management of the gov- 
ernment and affairs of the colony; and they, to the best 
of their judgment were " to endeavour to so settle the 
same," as might "make most to the glory of God, the 
furtherance and advancement of this hopeful plantation, 
the comfort, encouragement, and future benefit of the 
company, and of others, concerned in the commencement 
or prosecution of the work. The persons thus appoint- 
ed, were to be entitled "The Governor and Council of 
London's Plantation in Massachusetts Bay, in New Eng- 
land.''* 

Several persons, of considerable importance in the 
English nation, were now enlisted among the adventur- 
ers, who, for the unmolested enjoyment of their religion, 
were resolved to remove into Massachusetts. Foresee- 
ing, however, and dreading the inconvenience of being 
governed by laws made for them without their own con- 
sent, they judged it more reasonable, that the colony 
should be ruled by men residing in the plantation, than 
by those dwelling at a distance of three thousand miles, 
and over whom they should have no control. At a meet- 
ing of the company on the 28th of July, Matthew Cra- 
dock, the governor, proposed that the charter should be 

- Hazard, i. 263—271 . 

31 



242 JOHN WINTHROP. 

transferred to those of the freemen who should become 
inhabitants of the colony, and the powers conferred by 
it, be executed for the future in New England. An 
agreement was accordingly made at Cambridge, in Eng- 
land, on the 26th of August, between Sir Richard Salton- 
stall, Thomas Dudley, Isaac Johnson, John Winthrop, 
and a few others, that, on those conditions they would 
be ready the ensuing March, with their persons and fam- 
ilies, to embark for New England, for the purpose of 
settling in the country.* The governor and company, 
entirely disposed to promote the measure, called a gener- 
al court; at which the deputy governor stated, that sev- 
eral gentlemen, intending to go to New England, were 
desirous to know whether the chief government with the 
patent would be settled in Old or New England. This 
question caused a serious debate. The court was ad- 
journed to the next day, when it was decreed that the 
government and the patent of the plantation should be 
transferred from London to Massachusetts Bay. An or- 
der was drawn up for that purpose, in pursuance of 
which, a court was holden on the 20th of October, for a 
new election of officers, who would be willing to remove 
with their families ; and ''^ the court having received ex- 
traordinary great commendation of Mr. John Winthrop, 
both for his integrity and sufficiency, as being one very 
well fitted for the place, with a full consent chose him 
governor for the year ensuing." 

It is evident from the charter, that the original design 
of it was to constitute a corporation in England, like to 
that of the East India and other great companies, with 

* See, in Hutch. Coll. 25, 26, " The true coppie of the agreements at Cam- 
bridge, August 26, 1629." 



JOHN WIXTIIROP. 243 

power to settle plantations within the limits of the ter- 
ritory, under such forms of government and magistracy as 
should be fit and necessary. The first step in sending 
out Mr. Endecott, appointing him a council, giving him 
a commission, instructions, &lc, was agreeable to this 
construction of the charter.* 

The emigrants to Massachusetts had no special war- 
rant of toleration; they had not even the promise of 
connivance, which the pilgrims ten years before had ex- 
torted from James I. The charter does not once men- 
tion liberty of conscience or toleration ; though one his- 
torian! has inadvertently stated, that " free liberty of 
conscience was likewise granted to all w^ho should settle 
in the Massachusetts Bay, to worship God in their own 
way ;" and anotherj that ^' the charter granted toleration 
to all christians except papists." At the distance of 
three thousand miles, however, across the ocean, they 
felt themselves safe, beyond the reach of the archbishop 
and high commission courts. 

Preparations were now made for the removal of a 
large number of colonists, and in the spring of 1630, a 
fleet of fourteen sail was got ready. Mr. Winthrop having 
by the consent of all been chosen for their leader, imme- 
diately set about making preparations for his departure. 
He converted a fine estate of six or seven hundred 
pounds per annum into money, and in March embarked 
on board the Arbella, one of the principal ships. 

Before leaving Yarmouth, an address to their fathers 
and brethren remaining in England, was drawn up, and 

* Hutchinson's Hist. Colony Mass. Bay, 13. 
t Neal's Hist, of the Puritans, 4to. i. 544. 
t Hutchinson. 



244 JOHN WINTHROP. 

subscribed on the 7th April, by Governor Winthrop 
and others^ breathing an affectionate farewell to the church 
of England; and their native land. "Wee are not of 
those that dream of perfection in this world; yet wee 
desire you would be pleased to take notice of the princi- 
pals and body of our company, as those who esteem it 
our honor to call the Church of England, whence wee 
rise, our deare Mother, and cannot part from our native 
Countrie, wdiere she especially resideth, without much 
sadness of heart, and many tears in our eyes, ever acknowl- 
edging that such hope and part as we here obtain in the 
common salvation, wee have received in her bosome, 
and suckt it from her breast: wee leave it not therefore, 
as loathing that milk wherewith wee were nourished 
there, but blessing God for the parentage and education, 
as members of the same body, shall alw^ays rejoice in her 
good, and unfainedly grieve for any sorrow that shall ever 
betide her."* 

In the same ship with Governor Winthrop, came 
Thomas Dudley, who had been chosen deputy governor 
after the embarkation,! and several other gentlemen of 
wealth and quality; the fleet containing about 840 pas- 
sengers, of various occupations, some of whom were 
from the west of England, but most from the neighbor- 
hood of London. — The fleet sailed early in April; and 
the Arbella arrived off Cape Anne, on Friday, the 11th 
June, and on the following day entered the harbor of 
Salem. 

" See App. No. I, Hutch. Colony Mass. Bay, 487. 

i Dudley was chosen at a meeting held on board the Arbella, on the 23d 
March, in place of Humphrey who remained in England. Prince says this 
election " is the last record of the Massachusetts Company in England." 



JOHN WINTHROP. 245 

A lew days after their arrival, the i^ovcrnorj ami 
several of the principal persons of the colony, made an 
excursion some twenty miles along the bay, lor the pur- 
pose of selecting a convenient site for a town. They 
finally pitched down on the north side of Charles river, 
(Charlestown,) and took lodgings in the great house 
built there the preceding year; the rest of the company 
erected cottages, booths and tents for present accommoda- 
tion, about the town hill. Their place of assembling for 
divine service, was under a spreading tree. On the 8ih 
of July, a day of thanksgiving was kept for the safe ar- 
rival of the fleet. On the 30th of the same month, after 
a day of solemn prayer and fasting, the foundation of a 
church was laid at Charlestown, afterwards the first 
church of Boston, and Governor Winthrop, Deputy 
Governor Dudley, and the Rev. Mr. Wilson, entered 
into church covenant. The first court of assistants was 
held at Charlestown, on the 23d of August, and the first 
question proposed, was a suitable provision for the sup- 
port of the gospel. 

Towards the close of autumn, Governor Winthrop 
and most of the assistants removed to the peninsula of 
Shawmut, (Boston,) and lived there the first winter, in- 
tending in the spring to build a fortified town, but unde- 
termined as to its situation. On the sixth of December, 
they resolved to fortify the isthmus of that peninsula ; 
but, changing their minds before the month expired, they 
agreed upon a place about three miles above Charles- 
town, which they called first Newtown, and afterwards 
Cambridge, where they engaged to build houses the en- 
suing spring. The rest of the Minter they suffered 
much by the severity of the season, and were obliged to 



246 JOHN WINTHROP. 

live upon acornSj groundnuts^ and shellfish. One of the 
poorer sort, coming to the governor to complain, was 
told that the last batch was in the oven ; but of this he 
had his share.* They had appointed the 6th of Febru- 
ry for a fast, in consequence of their alarm for the safety 
of a ship which had been sent to Ireland for provisions ; 
but fortunately the vessel arrived on the 5th, and they 
ordered a public thanksgiving instead thereof, to be kept 
on the 22d of the same month. 

In the spring of 1631, in pursuance of the intended 
plan, the governor set up the frame of a house at New- 
town ; the deputy governor also erected one there, and 
removed with his family. The town was taken under the 
patronage of the government, and deemed a fit place to 
be fortified. But about this time, Chickatabot,f the chief 
of the neighboring Indians of Neponset, made a visit to the 
governor, with voluntary professions of friendship. Gov- 
ernor Winthrop thus describes his first interview with 
this chief, under the date of March 23, 1631; — 
" Chickatabot came with his sannups (chiefs) and squaws, 
and presented the governor with a hogshead of Indian 
corn. After they had all dined, and had each a small 
cup of sack and beer, and the men tobacco, he sent away 
all his men and women (though the governor would have 

* " And when people's wants were great, not only in one town but in divers 
towns, such was the godly wisdom, care and prudence (not selfishness but self- 
denial,) of oar Governor Winthrop and his assistants, that when a ship came 
laden with provisions, they order that the whole cargo should be bought for 
a general stock ; and so accordingly it was, and distribution was made to 
every town, and to every person in each town, as every man had need." — Me- 
moirs of Capt. Roger Clap, p. 15. 

t See note respecting this savage, in Life of Bradford, p. 58. Chikkatabak 
was one of the nine sachems who signed an instrument of submission to the 
English at New Plymouth, 13 Sept., 1621. Drake writes his name Chicka- 
taubut; Winthrop, Chickatabot, as in the text. 



JOHN WINTHROP. 247 

Stayed them in regard of the rain and thunder.) Himself 
and one squaw and one sannup stayed all night ; and be- 
ing in English clothes, the governor set him at his own 
table, where he behaved himself as soberly, &l.c., as an 
Englishman. The next day after dinner he returned 
home, the governor giving him cheese, and pease, and 
a mug, and other small things."* 

The apprehension of danger from the Indians abated, 
and the scheme of a forti^ed town was gradually laid 
aside; though, if it had been retained, the peninsula 
would have been a situation far preferable to Newtown. 
The governor took down his frame, and in October, 
1631, removed it to Shawmut, which was finally deter- 
mined upon for the metropolis, and named Boston. 

The three following years he was continued, by 
annual election, at the head o^ the government, for Avhich 
office he was eminently qualified, and in which he shone 
with a lustre that would have done him honor in a 
larger sphere and a more elevated situation. He was 
the father, as well as governor, of the plantation. His 
time, his study, his exertions, his influence, and his in- 
terest, were all employed in the public service. His wis- 
dom, patience and magnanimity were conspicuous in the 
most severe trials, and his exemplary behavior as a chris- 
tian, added a splendor to all his rare qualifications. He 
maintained the dignity of a governor, with the obliging 
condescension of a gentleman, and was so deservedly re- 
spected and beloved, that when Archbishop Laud, heark- 
ening to some calumnies raised against the country, on 
account of their Puritan principles, summoned one Mr. 
Cleaves before King Charles I., in hopes of getting some 

* Winthrop's Journal, i. 48. 



248 JOHN WINTHROP. 

accusation against the governor^ he gave such an account 
of his laudable deportment in his station^ and withal, of 
the devotion with which prayers were made, both in 
private and public, for the King, that Charles expressed 
his concern that so worthy a gentleman as Mr. Winthrop 
should be no better accommodated, than in an American 
wilderness. 

He was an example to the people, of that frugality, 
decency, and temperance, which were necessary in their 
circumstances, and even denied himself many of the ele- 
gances and superfluities of life, which his rank and for- 
tune gave him a just title to enjoy, both that he might 
set them a proper example, and be the better enabled to 
exercise that liberality in which he delighted, even, in 
the end, to the actual impoverishment of himself and his 
family. An instance is recorded in his Journal :* "The 
governor, upon consideration of the inconveniences which 
had grown in England by drinking one to another, re- 
strained it at his own table, and wished others to do the 
like, so as it grew, by little and little, to disuse." 

The following anecdote, related in his Journal, under 
date of the 11 Oct. 1631, will serve to show the accom- 
modations which were sometimes found in the wilder- 
ness : '^ The governor, being at his farm-house at Mis- 
tick, (Medford,) walked out after supper, and took a 
piece in his hand, supposing he might see a wolf, (for 
they came daily about the house, and killed swine, 
calves, &c.) and, being about half a mile off, it grew 
suddenly dark, so as in coming home, he mistook his 
path, and went till he came to a little house of Sagamore 
John, which stood empty ; there he stayed, and having 

t Savage's Winthrop, i. 37. 



JOHN WINTHROP. 249 

a match in his pocketj (for he always carried about his 
match and compass,) he made a good fire and warmed 
the house, and hiy down upon some old mats he found 
there and so spent the night, sometimes walking by the fire, 
sometimes singing psalms, and sometimes getting wood, 
but could not sleep. It was a warm night; but a little 
before day it began to rain, and, having no cloak, he 
made shift by a long pole to climb up into the house. 
In the morning there came thither an Indian squaw; but, 
perceiving her before she had opened the door, he 
barred her out ; yet she stayed there a great while, 
essaying to get in, and at last she went away, and he 
returned safe home, his servant having been much per- 
plexed for him, and having walked about, and shot off 
pieces, and hallooed in the night, but he heard them 
not."* Governor Winthrop would often send his ser- 
vants on some errand, at meal-times, to the houses of his 
neighbors, to see how they were provided with food ; 
and if there was a deficiency, would supply them from 
his own table. 

The following singular instance of his charity, mixed 
with humor, will give us an idea of the man. In a 
very severe winter, when wood began to be scarce in 
Boston, he received private information, that a neigh- 
bor was wont to help himself from the pile at his door. 
^^ Does he.'^" said the Governor; ^^call him to me, and I 
will take a course with him that shall cure him of steal- 
ing." The man appeared, and the Governor addressed 
him thus : " Friend, it is a cold winter, and I hear you 
are meanly provided with wood ; you are welcome to 
help yourself at my pile till the winter is over;" and 

" Savage's Winthrop, i. 62. 

32 



250 JOHN WINTHROP. 

then he merrily asked his friend whether he had not put 
a stop to the man's stealing. 

In the administration of justice, he was for temper- 
ing the severity of law with the exercise of mercy. He 
judged that in the infancy of a plantation^ justice should 
be administered with more lenity than in a settled state. 

Complaints of the liberal spirit of Governor Winthrop 
were made at a meeting of some of the leading men of 
the colony, in January, 1636 ; when Mr. Haynes, then 
governor, charged that Mr. Winthrop, while in office, 
had ^^ dealt too remissly in point of justice." Winthrop 
replied, that his conduct had been in part misunderstood, 
but "that it was his judgment, that in the infancy of 
plantations, justice should be administered with more 
lenity than in a settled state, because people were then 
more apt to transgress, partly of ignorance of new laws and 
orders, partly through oppression of business, and other 
straits." He professed himself ready, however, on being 
convinced of error, to take up a stricter course. The 
ministers were then called on for advice in the case, who 
all decided " that strict discipline, both in criminal offences 
and martial affairs, was more needful in plantations than in 
a settled state, as tending to the honor and safety of the 
gospel," Whereupon Mr. Winthrop acknowledged that 
he was convinced that he had failed in over much leni- 
ty, and submitted to their judgment, strictly adhering 
thereafter to the proposals which were made to support 
the dignity of government, by an appearance of union 
and firmness, and a concealment of differences and dis- 
sensions among the public officers. Dr. Savage, remark- 
ing upon this passage in the life of Governor Winthrop, 
says — " When the administration of Winthrop was im- 



JOHN AVINTHROP. 251 

peached by Governor llaynes, for too great lenity, it 
seems natural, that such severe tempers as Dudley, and 
Vane, and Peter, should unite in the attack ; and as the 
rest of the clergy probably agreed with their ardent 
brother Peter, the maxims of the first governor of the col- 
ony would be overruled ; but when their united influences 
were strong enough to compel him to acknowledge his 
remissness in discipline, we are bound, as in our early 
history we often are, to lament the undue dictation of the 
church."* 

His delicacy w^as so great, that though he could not, 
without incivility, decline accepting gratuities from divers 
towns, as well as particular persons, for his public ser- 
vices, yet he took occasion, in a public speech at his 
third election, in 1632, to declare that "he received them 
with a trembling heart in regard of God's rule and the 
consciousness of his own infirmity," and desired them 
that for the future they would not be offended, if he 
should wholly refuse such presents. "To which no 
answer was made, but he was told after, that many good 
people were much grieved at it, for that he never had 
any allowance towards the charge of his place."f 

In the year 1634, and the two years following, he was 
left out of the magistracy. | Though his conduct, from 
his first engaging in the service of the colony, had been 
irreproachable, yet the envy of some raised a suspicion 
of his fidelity, and gave him a small taste of what, in other 
popular governments, their greatest benefactors have 
had a large share of. An inquiry having been made of 

* Savage's Winthrop, i. 179, note. 
i Savage's Winthrop, i. 77. 

t In 1634, Thomas Dudley was chosen governor; in 1635, John Haynes; 
and in 1636, Henry Vane. 



252 JOHN WINTHROP. 

his receipts and disbursements of the public money during 
his past administration, though it was conducted in a 
manner too harsh for his dehcate sensibihty, yet he pa- 
tiently submitted to the examination of his accounts, 
which ended to his honor. Upon which occasion he 
made a declaration, which concluded in these words : 
" In all these things which I offer, I refer myself to the 
wisdom and justice of the court, with this protestation, 
that it repenteth me not of my cost and labour bestowed 
in the service of this commonwealth ; but I do heartily 
bless the Lord our God, that he hath been pleased to 
honor me so far as to call for any thing he hath bestow- 
ed upon me, for the service of his Church and people 
here ; the prosperity whereof, and his gracious accept- 
ance, shall be an abundant recompense to me." In a 
spirit of innocence and in the pride of just self-respect, 
he adds the particular request, that ^^as it stands upon 
record that upon the discharge of my office I was called 
to account, so this my declaration may be recorded also, 
lest hereafter, when I shall be forgotten, some blemish 
may lie upon my posterity, when there be nothing to 
clear it."* 

The same rare humility and steady equality of mind 
were conspicuous in his behavior, when a pretence was 
raised to get him left out of the government, lest, by the 
too frequent choice of one man, the office should cease 
to be elective, and seem to be his by prescription. This 
pretence was advanced even in the election sermons, and 
when he was in fact reduced to a lower station in the 
government, and endeavored to serve the people as faith- 
fully as in the highest ; nor would he suffer any notice to 

* Hutchinson's Coll. Mass. Bay, 41. 



JOHN WINTHROP. 23S 

be taken of some undue methods whicli Vere used to 
have him left out of the choice.* 

An instance of this rare temper, and the happy fruit 
of it, deserve remembrance. There was a time when 
he received a very angry letter from a member of the 
Court, which having read, he dehvered back to the mes- 
senger, with this answer: '^I am not wilHng to keep 
such an occasion of provocation by me." Shortly after, 
the writer of this letter, (Thomas Dudley,) was compel- 
led, by the scarcity of provision, to send to buy one of the 
governor's fat hogs. He begged him to accept it as a 
gift, in token of his good v, ill. On which the gentle- 
man came to him with this acknowledgment : '^ Sir, your 
overcoming yourself, hath overcome me." The deputy 
governor Dudley was of a choleric temper, and frequently 
got into controversy with Governor Winthrop ; but the 
latter, using the weapons most effectual with passionate 
men, generally conquered with kindness. 

But though condescending and gentle on every occa- 
sion of personal ill treatment, yet, where the honor of 
government or religion, and the interest of the people, 
were concerned, he was equally firm and intrepid, stand- 
ing foremost in opposition to those whom he judged to be 
really public enemies, though in the disguise of warm 
and zealous friends. 

Of this number was the famous Anne Hutchinson, 
a woman of masculine understanding and consummate 
art, who held private lectures to the women at her house, 

* This probably refers to tlie election of Eellingham in 1C41. He had six 
more votes than the other candidates, " but some votes were refused by the 
magistrates because they had not given them in at the doors. But others," 
says Winthrop (ii., 35,) "thought it was an injury, yet were silent, because it 
concerned themselves." 



254 JOHN WINTHROP. 

in which she" advanced these doctrines^ viz. : " that the 
Holy Ghost dwells personalhj in a justified person^ and 
that sanctification does not evidence justification." Those 
who held with her, were said to be " under a covenant 
of grace/' and those who opposed her, " under a cove- 
nant of works."* 

Into these two denominations, the whole colony be- 
gan to be divided. Her adherents prevailed in 1636 to 
choose for governor Henry Vanejf a young gentleman 
of an apparently grave and serious deportment, who had 
just arrived from England, and who paid great attention 
to this woman, and seemed zealously attached to her dis- 
tinguishing tenets. Winthrop, then deputy-governor, 
not only differed in sentiment, but saw the pernicious in- 
fluence of this controversy with regret, and feared that, 

* Neal gives the origin of the controversy in the following words; "The 
members of the church at Boston, used to meet once a week, to repeat the ser- 
mons they heard on the Lord's Day, and to debate on the doctrines contained 
in them. Those meetings being peculiar to the men, some of the zealous women 
thought it might be useful to them. One Mrs. Hutchinson, a gentlewoman of 
a bold and masculine spirit, and a great admirer of Mr. Cotton, set up one at 
her house. She taught that believers in Christ are personally united to the 
Spirit of God ; that commands to work out our salvation with fear and trem- 
bling, belong to none but such as are under the covenant of works ; that sanc- 
tification is not good evidence of a good estate. She likewise set up immedi- 
ate revelation about future events, to be believed as equally infallible with the 
Scriptures ; and a great many other opinions and fancies, which, under a pre- 
tence of exalting the free grace of God, destroyed the practical part of reli- 
gion." Neal's Hist., c. 5. p. 166. 

t This person, so well known afterward in England, is thus characterized by 
Lord Clarendon : 

"A man of great natural parts and of very profound dissimulation, of a 
quick conception, and ready, sharp, and weighty expression. He had an unu- 
sual aspect, a vultum clausum, that, though no man could make a guess of what 
he intended, yet made men think there was something in him extraordinary, 
and his whole life made good that imagination. There need no more be said 
of his ability than he was chosen to cozen and deceive a whole nation [the 
Scots] which was thought to excel in craft and cunning, which" he did with a 
notable pregnancy and dexterity." 



JOHN WINTHROP. 255 

it" it were suffered to prevailj it would endanger the ex- 
istence of the colony. In the heat of the controversy, 
Wheelwright, a zealous sectarian, preached a sermon, 
which not only carried these points to their utmost 
length, but contained some expressions which the court 
laid hold of as tending to sedition, for which he was ex- 
amined ; but a more full inquiry was deferred for that 
time. Some warm brethren, of Boston, petitioned the 
couit in Wheelwright's favor, reflecting on their pro- 
ceedings, which raised such a resentment in the court 
against the town, that a motion was made for the next 
election to be made at Cambridge. Vane, the governor, 
having no negative voice, could only show his dislike by 
refusing to put the question. Winthrop, the deputy- 
governor, declined it, as being an inhabitant of Boston ; 
the question was then put by Endecott of Salem, and 
carried for the removal. 

At the opening of the election, (May 17, 1637,) a 
petition was again presented by many inhabitants of 
Boston, which Vane would have read previous to the 
choice. Winthrop, who clearly saw that this- was a con- 
trivance to throw all into confusion, and spend the day in 
debate, that the election might be prevented for that 
time, opposed the reading of the petition until the elec- 
tion should be over. Vane and his party were strenuous, 
but Winthrop called to the people to divide, and the ma- 
jority appeared for the election. Vane still refused, till 
Winthrop said they would proceed without him, which 
obliged him to submit. The election was carried in fa- 
vor of Winthrop and his friends. The sergeants, who 
had waited on Vane to the place of election, threw down 
their halberds, and refused to attend the newly-elected 



256 JOHN WINTHROP. 

governor : he took no other notice of the affront than to 
order his own servants to bear them before him; and 
when the people expressed their resentment^ he begged 
them to overlook the matter.* 

The town of Boston being generally in favor of the 
new opinions^ the governor grew unpopular there, and 
a law which was passed in this year of his restoration to 
office, increased their dislike. Many persons who were 
supposed to favor these opinions were expected from 
England, to prevent whose settlement in the country the 
court laid a penalty on all w^ho should entertain any stran- 
gers, or allow them the use of any house or lot above 
three weeks, without liberty first granted. This severe 
order was so ill received in Boston, that, on the gover- 
nor's return from the court at Cambridge, they all re- 
fused to go out to meet him, or show him any token of 
respect. The other towns on this occasion increased 
their respect towards him, and the same summer, in a 
journey to Ipswich, he was guarded from tow^n to town 
with more ceremony than he desired. 

The same year a synod was called (30 August, 1637,) 
to determine on the controverted points, in which assem- 
bly, Winthrop, though he did not preside, yet, as head of 
the civil magistracy, was obliged often to interpose his 
authority, which he did with wisdom and gravity, silenc- 
ing passionate and impertinent speakers, desiring that 

* Hutchinson tells the anecdote, that Rev. Mr. Wil.son, the minister, in his 
zeal, upon this occasion, got upon the bough of a tree, (it being hot weather, 
and the election like that of parliament-men being carried on in the field,) and 
there made a speech, advising the people to look to their charter, and to consi- 
der the present work of the day, which was designed for the choosing the gov- 
ernor, deputy governor, and the rest of the assistants for the government of the 
commonwealth. His speech was well received by the people, who cried out 
"election ! election ! " which turned the scale. 



JOHN WINTHROP. 257 

the Divine Oracles might be allowed to express their 
own meaning, and be appealed to for a decision of the 
controversy ; and when he saw heat and passion prevail 
in the assemblvj he would adjourn it, that lime might be 
allowed for cool consideration, by which prudent manage- 
ment the synod, after a session of three weeks, came to 
an amicable agreement in condemning the errors of the 
day. Eighty-two opinions, imputed to the followers 
of Cotton and Wheelwright, were condemned as erro- 
neous.* But the work was not wholly done until the 
erroneous persons were themselves banished the colony. 
Wheelwright, Aspinwall, Anne Hutchinson and others 
were accordingly banished — this act of severity being" 
deemed necessary to preserve the peace of the common- 
w^ealth. Toleration had not then been introduced into any 
of the protestant countries, and the wisest and best men 
were afraid of it, as the parent of error and mischief. 

Some of the zealous opinionists in the Church of Bos- 
ton, would have had the elders proceed against the gov- 
ernor in the way of ecclesiastical discipline, for his activ- 
ity in procuring the sentence of banishment on their 
brethren. Upon this occasion, to excuse himself, and 
^^ prevent such a public disorder," in a well-judged speech 
to the congregation, he told them that, though in his 
private capacity it was his duty to submit to the censure 
of his brethren, yet he was not amenable to them for his 
conduct as a magistrate, even though it were unjust. That 
in the present case he had acted according to his con- 

* Those who have the curiosity to look at the jargon of opinions deemed by 
our fathers to be heretical, are referred to Welde's " Short Story of the Rise, 
Reiffn and Ruin of Antinomians, Familists, and Libertines, that infested the 
Churches of New England," published in London, 1644. 

33 



258 JOHN WINTHROP. 

science and his oath, and by the advice of the elders of 
the Churchy and was fully satisfied that it would not have 
been consistent with the public peace to have done oth- 
erwise. These reasons satisfied the uneasy brethren; 
and his general condescending and obliging deportment 
so restored him to their affections, that he was held in 
greater esteem than before ; as a proof of this, some years 
afterwards, upon occasion of a loss which he had sustain- 
ed in his temporal estate, they made him a present 
amounting to several hundred pounds. 

A warm dispute having arisen in the General Court, 
concerning the negative voice of the Upper House, the 
governor published his sentiments in writing, some pas- 
sages of which giving great offence, he took occasion at 
the next meeting of the court, in a public speech, to tell 
them " that, as to the matter of his writing, it was accord- 
ing to his judgment, which was not at his own dispo- 
sal, and that, having examined it by the rules of reason, 
religion, and custom, he saw no cause to retract it ; but 
as for the manner, which was w^holly his own, he was 
ready to acknowledge whatever was blameable. He said 
that, though what he wrote was on great provocation, 
and to vindicate himself and others from unjust aspersion, 
yet he ought not to have allowed a distemper of spirit^ 
nor to have been so free with the reputation of his breth- 
ren ; that he might have maintained his cause without 
casting any reflections on them, and that he perceived an 
unbecoming pride and arrogancy in some of his expres- 
sions, for which he desired forgiveness of God and man." 
By this condescending spirit, he greatly endeared himself 
to his friends, and his enemies were ashamed of their 
opposition. 



JOHX WINTHROP. 259 

He had nat so high an opinion of a democratic gov- 
ernment as some other gentlemen of equal wisdom and 
goodness, but " plainly perceived a danger in referring 
matters of council and judicature to the body of the peo- 
ple ;" and when those who had removed to Connecticut 
were about forming their government, he warned them 
of this danger in a friendly and faithful letter, wherein 
are these expressions : " The best part of a community 
is always the least, and of that best part, the wiser is al- 
ways the lesser ; wherefore the old law was, choose ye 
out judges, &,c., and thou shalt bring the matter to the 
judge." 

Governor Winthrop w^as one of the original found- 
ers of Harvard College, and his name and influence 
were always given in its support. There is no one, (says 
President Quincy,) to whose patronage the college was 
more indebted, during the period of its infancy, and con- 
sequent weakness and dependence.* 

In 1645, w^hen he was deputy-governor, a great dis- 
turbance grew out of some transactions at Hingham. It 
was briefly this : A disagreement had fallen out in a mili- 
tary company at Hingham, touching an election of offi- 
cers, which led to some mutinous and disorderly practices 
there; and the offenders being required to find bail for 
their appearance at court, Winthrop, as a magistrate, on 
the refusal of some of them, ordered them to be com- 
mitted. As there existed at that time great jealousy of 
the authority of the magistrates, and as this business ex- 
cited much feeling in Hingham, a petition, numerously 
signed, was presented to the deputies, asking that the 
case might be examined by the General Court. Win- 

* Quincy's Hist. Harv. Univ., i. 163 



260 JOHN WINTHROP. 

throp was put on trial, and, after a prolonged examination 
of six weeks, was fully acquitted, and the mutineers and 
petitioners were fined in various sums, from <£l to =£20-, 
for the costs of the court. Governor Winthrop now took 
occasion publicly to declare his sentiments on the ques- 
tions touching the authority of the magistrates, and the 
liberty of the people. ^^It is yourselves (said he) who 
have called us to this office, and being called by you, we 
have our authority from God, in way of an ordinance, 
such as hath the image of God eminently stamped upon 
it, the contempt and violation whereof has been vin- 
dicated with examples of divine vengeance. I entreat 
you to consider, that when you choose magistrates, you 
take them from among yourselves, men subject to like 
passions as you are. Therefore, when you see in- 
firmities in us, you should reflect upon your own, and 
that would make you bear the more with us, and not 
be severe censurers of the faihngs of your magistrates, 
when you have continued experience of the like in- 
firmities in yourselves and others. We account him a 
good servant, who breaks not his covenant. The cove- 
nant between you and us, is the oath you have taken 
of us, which is to this purpose, that we shall govern you 
and judge your causes by the rules of God's laws and 
our own,* according to our best skill. When you call 
one to be a magistrate, he doth not profess to nor under- 
take sufficient skill for that office, nor can you furnish him 
with gifts, &.C.; therefore you must run the hazard of his 
skill and ability. But if he fail in faithfulness, which by 
his oath he is bound unto, that he must answer for. 

* It must be observed, that the Mosaic law was at this time considered the 
general standard, and most of the laws of the colony were founded on it. 



JOHN WIXTHROP. 261 

" For the other point, concerning liberty, I observe a 
great mistake in the country about that. There is a two- 
fold liberty, natural, (I mean as oiir nature is now cor- 
rupt,) and civil or federal. The first is common to man 
with beasts and other creatures. By this, man, as he 
stands in relation to man simply, hath liberty to do what he 
lists ; it is a liberty to evil, as well as to good. This liber- 
ty is incompatible with authority, and cannot endure the 

least restraint of the most just authority The 

other kind of liberty I call civil or federal; it may also be 
termed moral, in reference to the covenant between God 
and man, in the moral law, and the politic covenants and 
constitutions amongst men themselves. This liberty is 
the proper end and object of authority, and cannot sub- 
• sist without it: and it is a liberty to that only which is 
good, just and honest. This liberty you are to stand 
for, with the hazard not only of your goods, but of your 
lives, if need be."* 

In the following year, a great excitement grew out of 
the petitions of such as were non-freemen, who com- 
plained that the fundamental laws of England were not 
owned in the colony as the basis of government; that, 
civil privileges were denied to men merely for not being 
members of the churches ; and that they could not enjoy 
Divine ordinances, because they belonged to the Church 
of England. With these complaints, they petitioned for 
liberty of conscience; or, if that could not be granted, 

* From Mather's mutilated transcript of Governor Winthrop's speech on 
this occasion, the authors of the Modern Universal History, condensed and 
adorned, in vol. xxxix. 291,2, their report, as if delivered in St. Stephen's chapel, 
of " the following speech, which is equal to any thing of antiquity, whether we 
consider it as coming from a philosopher or a magistrate." Savage remarks, 
that the original from Winthrop's own pen is far superior to their copy. See 
Savage's Winthrop, i. 5, and ii. 221—230. 



262 JOHN WINTHROP. 

for freedom from taxes and military services : the peti- 
tion concluded with a menace, that^ in case of a refusal, 
complaint would be made to the Parliament of England. 
From the foundation of the colony, all persons residing 
within its limits, who were not church members, were 
subject to several important disabilities. They were ex- 
cluded from all the offices and honors of the state ; they 
were not allowed to vote in elections or on laws, even 
for town-laws and officers, saving only those of military 
companies. They were, moreover, we can hardly doubt, 
looked upon by the church members, not only with pity 
as lost men, but with somewhat of indignation as rebels 
against the Divine law, and treated sometimes with the 
indifference or disregard which is often all that the more 
privileged bestow upon the less. Among those who 
were not members of a church, and so but half members 
of the state, there were not a few persons eminent for 
learning and talent, on whom these disabilities bore griev- 
ously. Hence arose, and gradually increased, a dislike 
of the government, and a purpose to get rid of the odious 
restrictions^ which at length gave rise to the petition 
referred to. William Vassall, of Scituate, a man of learn- 
ing, wit, and address, w^as one of the leading fomenters 
of this movement ; and Dr. Robert Child, of Hingham, 
whom Winthrop calls ^^ a gentleman and a scholar," ably 
seconded his efforts. The court refused to entertain the 
petition, and an appeal was claimed to the commissioners 
in Parliament. Some of the petitioners were stopped on 
the eve of their sailing for England, and held to bail. 
On their examination they justified their petition, and 
were fined in various sums from £4 to £50. Persisting 
in their opposition, and while preparing to prosecute 



JOHN WINTHROP. 263 

their appeal, Child and others were arrested and impris- 
oned. He afterwards went to England, where Vassal] 
was already, and attempted to excite an odium against 
the colony, but was successfully resisted by Edward 
Winslow, their agent.* 

This kind of argument was frequently urged by the 
fathers of New England, in justification of their severity 
towards those who dissented from ihem : they main- 
tained that all men had liberty to do right, but no liberty 
to do lorong. However true this principle may be in 
point of morality, yet in matters of opinion, in modes of 
faith, worship, and ecclesiastical order, the question is, 
who shall be the judge of right and wrong.? and it is 
too evident, from their conduct, that they supposed the 
power of judging to be in those who were vested with 
authority ; a principle destructive of liberty of conscience 
and the right of private judgment, and big with all the 
horrors of persecution. The exercise of such authority 
they condemned in the High Church party, who had 
oppressed them in England ; and yet, such is the frailty 
of human nature, they held the same principles and 
practised the same oppressions on those who dissented 
from them here. 

Winthrop, before he left England, was of a more 
catholic spirit than some of his brethren ; after he had 
come to America, he fell in with the reigning principle of 
intolerance, which almost all the Reformers unhappily 
retained, as a relic of the persecuting Church from which 
they had separated ; but as he advanced in life, he re- 
sumed his former moderation ; and in the time of his last 
sickness, when Dudley, the deputy-governor, pressed 

* See Life of Edward Winslow, pp. 124—128. 



264 JOHN WINTHROP. 

him to sign an order for the banishment of a person who 
was deemed heterodox, he refused, saying that " he had 
done too much of that work already." 

Having devoted the greatest part of his interest to 
the service of the pubhc, and suffered many losses by ac- 
cidents, and by leaving the management of his private 
affairs to unfaithful servants, while his whole time and 
attention were employed in the public business, his for- 
tune was so much impaired, that, some years before his 
death, he was obliged to sell the most of his estate for 
the payment of an accumulated debt. Not only his time, 
but much of his estate also, was given to the public. In 

1632, he tells us, "For want of a common stock, he had 
to disburse all common charges out of his estate."* In 

1633, the court ordered to be paid him <£150 salary for the 
year, and the money he had paid from his own purse in 
the public service, being between £200 and <£300 more.f 
He informs us that when in office, his expenses hardly 
fell short of £500 a year, £200 of which would have 
supported his family in a private condition. In 1640, his 
estate had become so reduced, partly by the misconduct of 
his steward, who had contracted large obhgations (£2500) 
for him without his knowledge, that several hundred 
pounds (less than 500) were given him by voluntary 
contribution in the colony ; and the court, the treasury 
being, as it often was, empty, granted to his wife 3000 
acres of land : a strong proof of the high esteem in which 
he was held, as well as of sympathy for his misfor- 
tunes. J — In his will, made June, 1641, (afterward re- 
voked,) he mentions that he owned a farm at Medford, 
then as now called " the Ten-hills," an island called still 

* Journal, i. 86. f Ibid, i. 105. { Ibid, ii. 1, 2. 



JOHN WINTHROP. 265 

Governor's, in Boston Harbor, Prudence Island in Nar- 
ragansett Bay, a lot at Concord, and another of 1200 
acres on the Concord River, and 2000 acres still due 
him from the country.* 

He also met with much affliction in his family, hav- 
ing buried three wives and six children; These trou- 
bles, joined to the opposition and ill treatment which he 
frequently met with from some of the people, so preyed 
upon his nature, already much worn by the toils and 
hardships of planting a colony in a wilderness, that 
he perceived a decay of his faculties seven years before 
he reached his grand climacteric, and often spoke of his 
approaching dissolution, with a calm resignation to the 
will of Heaven. At length, when he had entered the 
sixty-second year of his age, a fever occasioned by a 
cold, after one menth's confinement, put an end to his 
life, on the 26th of March, 1649. He was buried in the 
Chapel burial ground in Boston, where his monument 
may yet be seen. 

Upon the occasion of the last sickness of Governor 
Winthrop, the whole church fasted as well as prayed for 
him ; and in that fast, the venerable Cotton preached on 
Psalms XXXV. 13, 14; making this application — '^Upon 
this occasion we are now to attend this duty for a gover- 
nour, who has been to us as a friend in his counsel for 
all things, and help for our bodies by physick, for our 
estates by law, and of whom there was no fear of his be- 
coming an enemy, like the friends of David: a gover- 
nour who has been to us as a brother: not usurping au- 
thority over the church ; often speaking his advice, and 
often contradicted, even by young men, and some of low 

* Journal, ii. 360. 

34 



266 JOHN WINTHROP. 

degree; yet not replying, but offering satisfaction also 
when any supposed offences have arisen ; a governour^ 
who has been to us as a mother, parent-like distributing 
his goods to brethren and neighbors at his first coming ; 
and gently bearing our infirmities without taking notice 
of them."* 

A fine portrait of Governor Winthrop is preserved in 
the Senate Chamber of Massachusetts, with those of other 
ancient governors. The house in which he lived re- 
mained until 1775, when with many other old wooden 
buildings, it was torn down by the British troops and used 
for fuel. He lived on the lot at the corner of Milk 
street, Boston, part of which was afterwards taken for 
the Old South Church, and in the house subsequently oc- 
cupied by Prince, the chronologist. 

Governor Winthrop kept an exact journal of the 
occurrences and transactions in the colony, during his 
residence in it; entitled " The History of JYew England, 
from 1630 to 1649." It affords a more exact and cir- 
cumstantial detail of events within that period than any 
compilation which has been or can be made from it ; the 
principles and conduct of this truly great and good man 
therein appear in the light in which he himself viewed 
them; while his abilities for the arduous station which 
he held, the difficulties which he had to encounter, and 
his fidelity in business, are displayed with that truth and 
justice in which they ought to appear. 

The Journal was originally written in three separate 
books. The two first remained, unpublished and un- 
copied, in possession of the elder branch of the Winthrop 
family, until the revolutionary war, when Gov. Trum- 

* Mather's Magnalia, b. 2. c. 4. 



JOHN WINTHROP. 267 

bull of Connecticut procured the MS., and, with the 
assistance of liis secretary, copied a considerable part of 
it. After Governor Trumbull's death, Noah Webster, 
Esq. by consent of the descendants of Governor Win- 
throp, published the MS. believing it to be the entire 
work. It was printed at Hartford, in 1790, in an octavo 
volume of 370 pages : and brought down the Journal to 
the 26th October, 1G44. In 1816, the third book of the 
original MS. was found among the collections of the 
Rev. ]\Ir. Prince, in the dormitory of the Old South 
Church, where for sixty years it had remained unnoticed. 
It commences where the second volume closed, and con- 
tinues the Journal to January 1 1, 1649, which was within 
about ten weeks of the author's death. The whole work 
was evidently in the hands of Mr. Prince in 1755,* as 
it must have been previously in those of Mather and 
Hubbard. 

The fortunate preservation and recovery of the third 
volume of the MS. Journal of Winthrop, as above stat- 
ed, induced the indefatigable New England antiquary, 
Hon. James Savage, to undertake the preparation of a 
new edition, by whom the task was accomplished in 
1825. Dr. Savage carefully revised the text, and added 
a large body of illustrative notes, which are unrivalled 
for historical accuracy, sagacity, and learning. 

There is in the Library of the New York Historical 
Society, a MS. entitled '^ J Modell of Christian Charity. 
Written on board the Arbella, on the Atlantic Ocean. 
By the Hon. John Winthrop, Esqr. in his passage (with 
a great company of Religious people, of which Christian 

* See Prince's Advertisement, prefacing Continuation of his Annals, II 
Mass. Hist. Coll., vii. 100. 



268 JOHW WINTHROP. 

tribes he was the Brave leader and famous Governor : ) 
from the Island of Great Brittaine to New England in 
the North America. Anno 1630." It is an interesting 
paper, and has been reprinted in III Mass. Hist. Coll. 
viii. 31—48. 

Governor Winthrop was four times married, and had 
thirteen children. 

His first wife was Mary, daughter of John Forth, Esq. 
of Great Stanbridge in Essex, to whom he was married 
on the 16th April, 1605. She was buried on the 26 
June, 1615. His second wife was Thomasin, daughter 
of William Clopton, who appears to have survived but a 
short time the period of her marriage, as her burial is 
mentioned as having taken place on the 1 1 December, 
1616. The third wife of Governor Winthrop was Mar- 
garet, daughter of Sir John Tindal, Knt.* to whom he 
was married on the 29th April, 1618. She died at Bos- 
ton, 14 June, 1647, being, says the brief record in Win- 
throp's Journal, "about fifty-six years of age: a woman 
of singular virtue, prudence, modesty and piety, and es- 
pecially beloved and honored of all the country." Gov- 
ernor Winthrop afterwards, in 1648, married Martha, 
the widow of Thomas Coytmore, of Charlestown, who 
died on the coast of Wales, in 1645. She was the sis- 
ter of Increase Nowell. She survived Governor Win- 
throp, and on the 10 th March, 1651, was married to 
John Coggan, a successful merchant of Boston, who was 
her third husband. The children of Governor Win- 
throp, were — 

* This gentleman, who was a Master in Chancery, was assassinated 12 Nov., 
1616, for making a report against a suitor in a cause of comparatively small 
amount. The murderer was examined 16 Nov., and next day hanged himself 
in prison. 



JOHN WINTHROP. 269 

1. John, who was born atGroton, England, 12 Feb. 
1606. After completing his education in the University 
of CambridgCj and in Trinity College, Dublin, he trav- 
elled into France, Holland, Flanders, Italy, Germany, 
and Turkey, and united the accomplishments of a gen- 
tleman with the erudition of a scholar. In 1631, he 
came with his father's family to New England, and was 
chosen a magistrate of the colony of which his father was 
governor. In 1633, he began the plantation of Ipswich. 
In 1634, he went to England, and in 1635 returned with 
powers from lords Say and Seal, and Brook, to settle a 
plantation at the mouth of Connecticut river. He was 
afterwards chosen governor of the colony of Connecti- 
cut. — At the restoration of Charles II. he went to Eng- 
land, and obtained a charter incorporating New Haven 
and Connecticut into one colony, "with a grant of priv- 
ileges and powers of government, superior to any plan- 
tation which had been settled in America." From this 
time he was elected governor of Connecticut fourteen 
years successively till his death. He was one of the most 
distinguished philosophers of his age. His name appears 
among the founders of the Royal Society of London. 
Several of his essays are inserted in the Transactions. 
In the height of the Indian war, while he was attending 
to his official duty in Boston, as one of the Commission- 
ers of the United Colonies, he fell sick of a fever, and 
died April 7, 1676, and was buried in the same tomb 
with his father.* 

2. Henry, born in Groton, in Jan. 1607. He was 
accidentally drowned at Salem, 2 July 1630, the day 

* Further particulars respecting the second Governor Winthrop, and his de- 
scendants, will appear in the Lives of the Governors of Connecticut, in a 
future volume of this work. 



270 JOHN WINTHROP. 

after his arrival. He had married a lady by the name of 
Fones, and left issue a daughter. 

3. Forth, who died in England a short time after 
his father sailed. 

4. Anna, baptized 8 August, 1614, and buried the 
26th of the same month. 

5. Anna, baptized 26 June, 1615, and buried the 
29th of that month. 

6. Mary, who is mentioned in the will of her fatherj 
dated 17 May, 1620. She was married about 1633, to 
Rev. Samuel Dudley, son of Governor Thomas Dudley, 
who resided at Cambridge, Boston, and Salisbury, and 
finally settled at Exeter, N. H., as the minister of that 
town. She died at Salisbury, 12 April, 1643. 

7. Stephen, born in March, 1619; was. representa- 
tive from Pascataqua, N. H. in 1644; went to England 
in 1645 or 1646, with Rainsburrow, his brother-in-law, 
lived in the parish of St. Margaret, in Westminster, com- 
manded a regiment in Cromwell's time, and became a 
member of parliament. He was much trusted by the 
Protector. He succeeded General Harrison, the exqui- 
site enthusiast, who troubled Cromwell so much with 
his anticipation of a kingdom of saints.* He died prior 
to 1659. 

8. Adam, born 7 April, 1620, admitted freeman in 
1641, and died 24 Aug., 1652. His wife was Elizabeth 
Glover.f His son Adam, graduate at Harvard College, 
1668, commanded one of the three militia companies of 

* See note in Savage's Winthrop, i. 126. 

t Dr. Farmer, in his Genealogy, following earlier authorities, makes Adam 
the eldest son of Winthrop by his third wife ; but the Parish Register of Gro- 
ton, in Suffolk, extracts from which are furnished in Savage's " Gleanings for 
New England History," (HI Mass. Hist. Coll. viii.) makes Stephen the elder 
son by this marriage. 



JOHN VVINTHROP. 271 

Bostoiij which assembled on the deposition of Andros, 
was representative for several years, a counsellor under 
the charter of 1691, and a judge of the superior court, 
and died 30th August, 1700, aged 52. His son Adam, 
graduated at Harvard College, 1694, was representative 
and counsellor, and commanded the Boston regiment. 
He died 2d October, 1743. His son John, gi-aduated at 
Harvard College, 1732, was in 1738, appointed Hollis 
Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, in 
Harvard College, and was one of the most learned men 
of the age. He died 3d May, 1779, aged 64."* 

9. Deane. He was born March 16, 1623, was mem- 
ber of the artillery company, 1644, freeman, 1665, was 
concerned in the settlement of Groton, which was pro- 
bably so named, in honor of his father's native place. 
He died at Pulling Point, March 16, 1704, aged 81. 

10. Samuel, born in August, 1627. In 1647, he 
was in the West Indies. In 1647, his father writes to 
John Winthrop, Jr., that Samuel was married in Holland 
to a Dutch woman, and was intending to visit Boston on 
his way to Barbadoes. 

11. Anne. This daughter was born in April, 1630, 
after her father had left England. She died on the pas- 
sage to this country, when eighteen months old. 

12. William, born 14th August, 1632. He proba- 
bly died young, as the records do not mention his birth. 

13. Joshua, born 12th December, 1648, the only 
child by his last wife. After the death of Governor Win- 
throp, the General Court gave £200 to his infant Joshua ; 
and in case he died before attaining the age of twenty- 

* See notice of Professor Winthrop, in Quincy's History Harvard Univer- 
sity, ii. 207—224. 



272 JOHN WINTHROP. 

one years, one-third of the sum was to go to the widow, 
one-third to Deane Winthrop, and the remaining third 
to Samuel Winthrop. The paternal regard of the colo- 
ny was, however, ineffectual, as the Boston records show 
that " Joshua Winthrop, youngest son of the late Mr. 
John Winthrop, Esquire, died 11th January, 1651.'' 

Governor Winthrop had five sons living at the time of 
his decease, all of whom, notwithstanding the reduction 
of his fortune, acquired and possessed large property, 
and were persons of eminence. The high reputation of 
the first Governor of Massachusetts, has been well sus- 
tained by succeeding generations of his family ; and no 
name, perhaps, in the history of New England has been 
more richly adorned by exalted public and private char- 
acter, or more generally respected, than t^iat of Win- 
throp.* 

* Additional genealogical notes, and sketches of the distinguished descend- 
ants of Governor Winthrop, will be given in the Memoirs of the Governors of 
Connecticut. i 



273 



II. THOMAS DUDLEY. 

Thomas Dudley, one of the most distinguished of 
the Puritan settlers of New England, and second gover- 
nor of the colony of Massachusetts Bay, was born at 
Northampton, in the neighborhood of the residence of 
the Earl of Northampton, in the year 1576. There is a 
tradition among the descendants of Governor Dudley, in 
the eldest branch of the family, that he was descended 
from John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who was 
beheaded 22 February, 1 553, and some of the name have 
been anxious to trace their descent to that ambitious 
courtier; but whoever will take the pains to consult Dug- 
dale's Antiquities of Warwickshire, will be satisfied that 
our honest old Puritan could not have descended from 
the Dudleys, who figure so much in English history. 
His descent, however, was probably quite as honorable ; as 
Dugdale produces evidence to show that Edmund Dud- 
ley, the privy counsellor of Plenry VII., was the son, or 
grandson of John Dudley, a carpenter, and of very hum- 
ble origin — and not descended from the family of Sutton, 
Baron of Dudley, in Staffordshire, as was pretended 
by the Duke. It was the marriage of Edmund Dudley 
with Elizabeth, the daughter and heiress of Sir Edward 
Grey, Viscount Lisle, that gave to him his family distinc- 
tion, and his talents gave him his influence and power. 
He was born in 1462, became a lawyer and privy coun- 
sellor to Henry VIL, and speaker of the House of Com- 
mons in 1505. He retained the favor of this monarch, 
who bestowed upon him great wealth. Henry VIII., 
35 



274 THOMAS DUDLEY. 

inherited his father's treasures, but not his friendships ; 
and Dudley was beheaded on Tower Hill, 22 Aug. 1510,^ 
John Dudley, the son of Edmund, was born in 1502, 
and after the accession cf Edward VI., was made Earl 
of Warwick, and in 1551, Duke of Northumberland-r 
He fell in the vain attempt to raise his daughter-in-law, 
the Lady Jane Grey, wife of Lord Guilford Dudley, to 
the throne, as successor of Edward, and was beheaded 
by order of Queen Mary, 22 Feb. 1553. Sir Robert 
Dudley, son of the Duke of Northumberland, born 1532, 
was a favorite of Queen Ehzabeth, by whom, in 1564^ 
he was made Baron of Denbigh and Earl of Leicester, 
He died 4 Sept. 1588. Ambrose Dudley, brother to the 
Earl of Leicester, who died at Bedford House, near Lon- 
don, 21 Feb. 1589, was "deservedly called the good 
Earl of Warwick."* The Duke of Northumberland 
had eight sons and five daughters, and from one of these 
sons, the Rev. Samuel Dudley, son of Governor Thomas,, 
supposed his family to have been derived. 

A late writer, speaking of Robert Dudley, son of the 
Duke, who became the favorite of Queen Ehzabeth, and 
was made Earl of Leicester, says the disputes about his 
descent, go back to his great grandfather, who is describ- 
ed by one party as a carpenter, and by the other as a 
nobleman ; while a third, acting as umpire, proposes to 
reconcile both theories by making him a "' noble timber- 
merchant." However the dispute may be decided, the 
jest, founded on the first theory^ is too good to be lost ; 
it was said, that " he was the son of a duke, the brother 
of a king, the grandson of an esquire, and the great 

* Dugdale's Antiquities of Warwickshire. Kippis' Biographia Brittanica, 
vol. V. art. Dudley. 



THOMAS DUDLEY. 275 

grandson of a carpenter; that the carpenter was the 
only honest man in the family, and the only one who died 
in his bed." 

It does not appear that Governor Dudley ever claim- 
ed descent either from the family of Warwick or of 
Northumberland; and there have been those of the 
name, who would not exchange the tide and privileges 
of an iJLmerican citizen, for the brightest coronet that 
glitters in Europe. 

Thomas Dudley was the only son of Captain Roger 
Dudley, who was slain in battle. Being left an orphan, 
he was taken into the family of the Earl of Northampton, 
where he remained for several years. He next entered 
the office of a judge of the name of Nicholls, in the ca- 
pacity of a clerk, in which situation, the judge being a 
kinsman of his mother, he was allowed many favorable 
opportunities for the acquisition of knowledge. These 
advantages he faithfully improved, and became distin- 
guished among the young men of his age, for intelligence, 
courage and conduct. Inheriting from his father, a taste 
for military adventure, and the most direct path to pub- 
lic honors during the reign of Elizabeth being the pro- 
fession of arms, when the Queen ordered levies for the 
French service, he was appointed to the command of a 
company, marched into the field, and was at the siege of 
Amiens, under Henry IV. On the conclusion of a treaty 
of peace. Captain Dudley returned to England, and^set- 
tled in the neighborhood of Northampton. Here he 
married "a gentlewoman whose extracUon and estate 
were considerable;" which circumstance introduced him 
to an acquaintance with several eminent and pious dis- 
senting clergymen. He attended their ministrations with 



376 JOHN LEVERETT. 

graduated in 1680, was afterwards a tutor, became a mem- 
ber of the legislature, speaker of the assembly, counsellor, 
judge of the superior court, and of the court of probate. 
He was one of the founders of Brattle street church in 
Boston. In 1708, he was chosen President of Harvard 
College, in which station he continued until his death, 
which was sudden, 3d May, 1724. He was endowed 
with great powers of mind, and was conspicuous for his 
learning. His talents were eminently practical. He 
knew better than most men what course to shape in diffi- 
cult times, and how political and religious factions were 
to be managed or controlled. To these characteristics 
the College owed much of the prosperity it enjoyed at 
that period ; and these conferred the reputation for suc- 
cess, which has ever since rested upon his administration. 
In all his official relations, his industry, vigor, and fideli- 
ty were conspicuous and exemplary. Flynt's Funeral 
Oration ascribes to him Aristotle's words to Plato — ''Hie 
jacet homo, quern non licet, non decet, impiis vel ignoran- 
tibus laudareJ^ His literary merits procured him honors 
from abroad, particularly a membership in the Royal So- 
ciety of London.* 

* Quincy's Hist, of Harvard University, i. 323. Whitman's Hist. Anc. and 
Hon. Art. Co. 249. 



37: 



VIII. SIMON BIIADSTREET. 

Simon Bradstreet was a native of Horbling, a 
small village near Folkingham^ in Lincolnshire, England, 
where he was born in March, 1603. His father, born 
of a wealthy Himily in Suffolk, was one of the first fel- 
lows of Emanuel College, and highly esteemed by per- 
sons distinguished for learning. In the year 1603, he 
appears to have been minister at Horbling, in Lincoln- 
shire, but was always a nonconformist to the church of 
England. He was afterwards preacher to the English 
congregation at Middleburg, where he was most proba- 
bly driven by the severity of persecution. He was liv- 
ing about the year 1630. The first planters of New 
England had the highest respect for him, and used to 
style him '' The venerable Mordecai of his country."* 

The son was entered at the grammar school, where, 
after spending some time, he was taken into the family 
of the Earl of Lincoln, in which he remained about eight 
years, under the direction of Thomas Dudley, holding 
several offices at different periods in the household of 
the Earl. His capacity, and the desire which his father 
expressed to give his son an education, induced Dr. 
Preston, an intimate friend of the elder Bradstreet, to 
interest himself in behalf of the son. He was thereupon 
entered at Emanuel College, Cambridge, in the capacity 
of governor to the young Lord Rich, son of the Earl of 
Warwick. This young nobleman, however, did not 
come to the university ; and a brother of the Earl of 

* Brooke's Lives of the Puritans, iii, 519. 

48 



278 THOMAS DUDLEY. 

New England, and the planting of the gospel there ; and 
after some deliberation, we imparted our reasons by let- 
ters and messages, to some in London and the west 
country, where it w^as likewise dehberately thought upon, 
and at length with often negotiation so ripened, that in 
the year 1628, we procured a patent from His Majesty, 
for our planting between the Massachusetts Bay, and 
Charles river on the south, and the river of Merrimack 
on the north, and three miles on either side of those riv- 
ers and bay, as also for the government of those who did 
or should inhabit within that compass, and the same year 
we sent Mr. John Endecott and some with him, to begin 
a plantation and to strengthen such as he should find 
there, which we sent thither, from Dorchester and some 
places adjoining ; from whom, the same year, receiving 
hopeful news. The next year, 1629, we sent divers 
ships over, with about three hundred people, and some 
cows, goats, and horses, many of which, arrived safely. 
These by their too large commendations of the country, 
and the commodities thereof, invited us so strongly to go 
on, that Mr. Winthrop of Suffolk, (who was well known 
in his own country and well approved here for his piety, 
liberahty, wisdom, and gravity,) coming into us, we 
came to such resolution, that in April, 1630, we set sail 
from old England, with four good ships.* And in May 
following, eight more followed, two having gone before, 
in February and March, and two more following in June 
and August, besides another sent out by a private mer- 
chant. These seventeen ships arrived all safe in New 
Ei^gland, for the increase of the plantation here, this 
year, 1630, but made a long, troublesome, and a costly 

* The Arbella, Jewell, Ambrose, and Talbot. 



THOMAS DUDLEY. 279 

voyage, being all wind boundj long in England, and 
hindered with contrary winds after they set sail, and so 
scattered with mists and tempests, that few of them ar- 
rived together. Our four ships which set out in April, 
arrived here in June and July, where we found the colo- 
ny in a sad and unexpected condition ; above eighty of 
them being dead the winter before, and many of those 
alive, weak and sick ; all the corn and bread amongst 
them all, hardly sufficient to feed them a fortnight, inso- 
much, that the remainder of one hundred and eighty ser- 
vants we had the two years before sent over, coming to 
us for victuals to sustain them, we found ourselves wholly 
unable to feed them, by reason that the provisions ship- 
ped for them, were taken out of the ship they were put 
in, and they who were trusted to ship them in another, 
failed us, and left them behind ; whereupon, necessity 
enforced us, to our extreme loss, to give them full liberty^ 
who had cost us about sixteen or twenty pounds a per- 
son, furnishing and sending over. But bearing these 
things as we might, we began to consult>of the place of 
our sitting down, for Salem, where we landed, pleased 
us not. And to that purpose, some were sent to the bay 
to search up the rivers for a convenient place ; who upon 
their return, reported to have found a good place upon 
Mistick ; but some other of us seconding these to approve 
or dislike of their judgment, we found a place liked us bet- 
ter, three leagues up Charles river, and thereupon, un- 
shipped our goods into other vessels, and whh much cost 
and labor, brought them in July, to Charlestown ; • but 
there receiving advertisements by some of the late arrived 
ships from London and Amsterdam, of some French pre- 
parations against us, (many of our people brought with 



280 THOMAS DUDLEY. 

uSj being sick of fevers and scurvy, and we thereby un- 
able to carry up our ordnance and baggage so far) we 
were forced to change counsel, and for our present shel- 
ter, to plant dispersedly, some at Charlestown, which 
stands on the north side of the mouth of Charles river ; 
some on the south side thereof, which place we named 
Boston (as we intended to have done the place we first 
resolved on ;) some of us upon Mistick, which we named 
Medford ; some of us westward on Charles river, four 
miles from Charlestown, which place we named Water- 
town ; others of us, two miles from Boston, in a place 
we named Rocksbury ; others upon the river of Sawgus, 
between Salem and Charlestown; and the western men, 
four miles south from Boston, at a place we named Dor- 
chester. This dispersion troubled some of us, but help 
it, we could not, wanting ability to remove to any place 
fit to build a town upon, and the time too short to delibe- 
rate any longer, least the winter should surprise us be- 
fore we had built our houses. The best counsel we could 
find out, was to build a fort to retire to, in some conve- 
nient place, if any enemy pressed thereunto, after we 
should have fortified ourselves against the injuries of wet 
and cold. So ceasing to consult further for that time, 
they who had health to labor, fell to building, wherein 
many were interrupted with sickness, and many died 
weekly, yea almost daily." 

^"^And of the people who came over with us, from 
the time of their setting sail from England, in April, 
1630, until December following, there died, by estima- 
tion, about two hundred at the least — so low hath the 
Lord brought us ! Well, yet they who survived, were 
not discouraged, but bearing God's corrections with hu- 



THOMAS DUDLEY. 281 

mility and trusting in his mercies, and considering how, 
after a great ebb, He had raised our neighbors at Ply- 
mouth, we began again, in December, to consult about a 
fit place to build a town upon, leaving all thoughts of a 
fort, because upon any invasion we were necessarily to 
lose our houses when we should retire thereunto; sa 
after divers meetings at Boston, llocksbury and Water- 
town, on the 28th of December, we grew to this resolution 
to bind all the Assistants (Mr. Endecott and Mr. Sharpe 
excepted, which last purposeth to return by the next 
ships into England,) to build houses at a place, a mile 
east from Watertown, near Charles river, the next spring, 
and to winter there the next year, that so, by our exam- 
ples, and by removing the ordnance and munitions thither,^ 
and such as shall come to us hereafter to their advan- 
tage be compelled so to do ; and so, if God would, a for- 
tified town might there grow up, the place fitting rea- 
sonably well thereto."* 

In the same letter to the Countess of Lincoln, Mr. 
Dudley gave the following advice to those who were: 
hoping to better their worldly condition by emigration. 
It reminds us of similar judicious counsels given six years 
before by Governor Winslow : 

" But now having some leisure to discourse of the 
motives for other men coming to this place, or their ab- 
staining from it, after my brief manner I say this — that 
if any come hither to plant for worldly ends that can 
live well at home, he commits an error of which he will 
soon repent him. But if for spiritual, and that no par- 
ticular obstacle hinder his removal, he may find here 

• The whole of this letter may be found in Coll. N. H. Hist. See , iv. 224^ 
249; and in Force's Historical Tracts, vol. 2, No. 4. 

36 



282 THOMAS DUDLEY. 

what may well content him^ viz : materials to build; 
fuel to burn; ground to plant^ seas and rivers to fish in^ 
a pure air to breath in^ good water to drink till wine and 
beer can be made^, which, together with the cows, hogs 
and goats brought hither already, may suffice for food, 
for as for fowl and venison, they are dainties here as 
well as in England. For clothes and bedding, they must 
bring them with them till time and industry produce 
them here. In a word, we yet enjoy little to be envied, 
but endure much to be pitied in the sickness and mor- 
tality of our people. And I do the more wiHingly use 
this open and plain dealing, lest other men should fall 
short of their expectations when they come hither, as we 
to our great prejudice did, by means of letters sent us 
from hence into England, wherein honest men, out of a 
desire to draw over others to them, wrote somewhat 
hyperbolically of many things here. If any godly men, 
out of religious ends, will come over to help us in the 
good work we are about, I think they cannot dispose of 
themselves nor of their estates more to God's glory and 
the furtherance of their own reckoning, but they must 
not be of the poorer sort yet for divers years. For we 
have found by experience that they have hindered, not 
furthered the work — and for profane and debauched per- 
sons, their oversight in coming hither is wondered at, 
where they shall find nothing to content them. If there 
be any imbued with grace, and furnished with means to 
feed themselves and theirs for eighteen months, and to 
build and plant, let them come into our Macedonia and 
help us, and not spend themselves and their estates in a 
less profitable employment : for others, I conceive they 
are not yet fitted for this business." 



THOMAS DUDLEY. 283 

Mr. Dudleyj as has already been stated, was in favor 
of making Newtown, now CambridgCj the metropohs of 
the colony; and after consuUation, Governor Winthrop, 
and the assistants, agreed to settle there, and streets and 
squares, and market places, were duly surveyed and laid 
out. In the spring of 1631, Mr. Dudley and others 
commenced building. Governor Winthrop had set up 
the frame of a house, but soon after changed his mind, 
and removed it to Boston. Mr. Dudley finished his 
house, and moved into it with his family. The first 
houses were rude structures, the roofs covered with 
thatch, the fire-places generally made of rough stones, and 
the chimneys of boards, plastered with clay. The settlers 
were publicly enjoined to avoid all superfluous expense, 
in order that their money might be reserved for any un- 
foreseen necessities. Mr. Dudley having finished his 
house with a little more regard to domestic comfort, 
exposed himself to public censure, xlt a meeting of the 
governor and assistants, he was told, that " he did not 
well to bestow such cost about wainscoting and adorning 
his house, in the beginning of a plantation, both in regard 
to the expense, and the example." Dudley's answer was, 
that it was for the warmth of his house, and the charge 
was little, " being but clapboards nailed to the wall in the 
form of wain scot, ' ^ 

The removal of Winthrop to Boston, in violation of 
his first understanding with Dudley, Bradstreet and 
others, was a source of mutual uneasiness ; and the mis- 
understanding, on that and other matters, led Dudley, 
in April, 1632, to resign his ofl^ices of deputy governor 
and assistant of the colony. He even meditated for a 
time an abandonment of the colony, and a return to 



284 THOMAS DUDLEY. 

England. But the ministers and the magistrates saw 
the evil of this dispute between the two foremost men 
of the plantation, and after repeated and earnest meetings, 
succeeded in bringing about a reconciliation. Dudley's 
resignation was adjudged by the court of assistants to be 
a nullity, and he again entered upon the duties of his sta- 
tion.* " Ever after (says Winthrop) they kept peace and 
good correspondency together in love and friendship." 

Mr. Wilson, the first minister, having left Boston, 
in March, 1631, on a visit to England, the religious ser- 
vices of the church were performed alternately by Gov- 
ernor Winthrop, the deputy-governor Dudley, and Mr. 
Nowell, the ruling elder, until November of that year, 
when Mr. John Eliot arrived, and preached with them 
until his settlement at Roxbury. Hubbard says these 
men, in the absence of their pastor, accepted the charge, 
^'^ knowing well that the princes of Judah, in King He- 
zekiah's reign, were appointed to teach the people out 
of the law of God." 

In 1632, there being frequent alarms from the In- 
dians, a palisade was commenced about Newtown. Mr. 
Dudley '^^ impaled above a thousand acres," and the court 
of assistants ordered a tax of =£60 to be raised for the 
purpose of enclosing Newtown with the palisade. Each 
town made choice of two men to advise with the gov- 
ernor about raising a public stock. 

In 1634, at the meeting of the general court in May, 
Mr. Dudley was chosen governor. This was the begin- 
ning of a new era in the history of the colony. It was 
the first legislature in which the representative principle 
was recognized. Three delegates from each of the 

* Savage's Winthrop, i. 72—78, 82—89. 



THOMAS DUDLEY. 285 

towns were in attendance — the session was continued 
during three days — and Winthrop remarks, as if glad to 
escape from doubt, that " all things were carried very 
peaceably, notwithstanding that some of the assistants 
icere questioned by the freemen for some errors in govern- 
ment,^^ &c. The powers of the general court were now 
defined, the trial by jury was ordained, and orders were 
made regulating the future elections of the representa- 
tive body. It w^as decided that there should be four 
general courts every year, the whole body of freemen 
hereafter assembling only at the court of election; the 
other courts to be held by the deputies. Each town was 
authorized to choose two or three deputies to represent 
them in the general court. This was the second house 
of representatives, in the American colonies. 

The origin of the representative body, is an impor- 
tant event in our history, well worth a more deliberate 
scrutiny than has been freely bestowed upon matters of 
more trifling interest. Hutchinson says, it seems to have 
been agreed upon or fallen into by a general consent of 
the towns, and that it was a thing of necessity. Savage 
conjectures that the " assistants were become weary of 
the exercise of all the powers of government, and desired 
others to participate in the responsibility."* But a consid- 
eration of the tendencies of the age may well lead to the 
conclusion, that it was not so much that the assistants 
were tired of governing, as that an ardent desire existed 
and was increasing among the people for a more efficient 
share in the responsibility of government — a desire which 
has been conspicuous among their descendants. The 
towns were allowed two or three deputies each, and it 

* Savage's Winthrop, i. 128. 



286 THOMAS DUDLEY. 

appears that they accepted the grant with eagerness, and 
almost invariably chose the larger number. The true 
origin, after all, may be traced, perhaps, to the commit- 
tees of two from each town, chosen in 1632, to agree 
upon the method of providing a public stock. The mat- 
ter of taxation, has always been a topic of interest with 
the people, as connected with representation ; and the ex- 
penses of the proposed fortification of Newtown, proba- 
bly, had its effect — in other words, Governor Dudley's 
old ditch around the college, the remains of which were 
visible not many years since, may have been the im- 
mediate cause of the establishment of the first house of 
representatives in New England ! 

The general court at this session also established a 
military commission, vested with the most unlimited au- 
thority. At the head of this commission Governor Dud- 
ley was placed, having Winthrop, Humphrey, Haynes, 
Endecott, Coddington, Pynchon, Nowell, Bellingham and 
Bradstreet for his associates. They were deputed, in the 
words of the record,* "to dispose of all military affairs 
whatsoever ; shall have full power and authority to see 
all former laws concerning all military men and munitions 
executed; and also shall have full powder to ordain or 
remove all military officers, and to make and tender to 
them an oath suitable to their places ; to dispose of all 
companies, to make orders for them, and to make and 
tender to them a suitable oath, and to see that strict dis- 
cipline and trainings be observed, and to command them 
forth upon any occasion they think meet ; to make either 
offensive or defensive war; as also to do whatsoever 
may be further behooveful for the good of this plantation 

* I Col. Records, p. 139. 



THOMAS DUDLEY. 287 

in case of any war that may befiil us; and also that the 
aforesaid commissionerSj or a major part of them^ shall 
have power to imprison or confine any that they shall 
judge to be enemies to the commonwealth ; and such 
as will not come under command or restraint, as they 
shall be required, it shall be lawful for the said com- 
missioners to put such persons to death." This was 
a formidable power to be intrusted to any man, or body 
of men, but it seems never to have been exerted to the 
injury or discontent of the people. 

In the following year, Governor Dudley was super- 
seded by John Haynes, afterwards Governor of Connec- 
ticut. He was chosen assistant in 1635, and in the fol- 
lowing year, when Sir Henry Vane was governor. For 
the years 1637, 8, and 9, he was deputy governor. At 
a general court in 1636, it was ordered that a certain 
number of the magistrates be chosen for life — and Gov- 
ernors Winthrop and Dudley were raised to this new 
dignity. " Only three years (says Savage,) did this 
council for life subsist." The object of the change was 
to tempt oyer some of the nobility and other leading men 
of England, who were ambitious of titles, by assuring 
them of a similar tenure of power in this new country. 
It was a weak device, which met no favor among the 
people, and was soon abandoned. 

In 1636, Anne Hutchinson, a woman of famihstic prin- 
ciples, and an ardent enthusiast, held meetings and gave 
lectures for the propagation of her peculiar sentiments. 
Her zeal and eloquence attracted numerous hearers, and 
her adherents rapidly increased. The whole colony was 
soon divided into two parties, the one called Antino- 
mians, and the other Legahsts. Governor Dudley^ al- 



288 THOMAS DUDLEY. 

ways foremost in what he beheved to be his duty, op- 
posed the new heresy with great zeal, and with Winthrop, 
Wilson, and others, maintained the principles and {Prac- 
tices of the churches as they stood before this woman 
came into the country. With them in sentiment and 
feeling were the ministers and people of the other con- 
gregations; but Mr. Vane, the governor, and the Rev, 
Mr. Cotton, countenanced the opinions of Mrs. Hutch- 
inson — her party became strong — the church was divided 
in twain — mutual censures passed between the brethren, 
and every thing in ecclesiastical affairs wore the aspect 
of disunion and change. The civil power of the colony 
was at last brought in to crush the heresy, and proved 
effectual for the time. Mrs. Hutchinson was banished, 
as was Wheelwright, her brother — all the principal men 
in the colony who had favored their preaching, were dis- 
armed — and many, to escape banishment, became volun- 
tary exiles from the colony.* The trial of Mrs. Hutchin- 
son is a precious document for those who would under- 
stand the manners, customs, and principles of our fathers. 
It is preserved by Governor Hutchinson, in the Appen- 
dix to his History of Massachusetts.! 

* Rev. John Wheelwright came from Lincolnshire to New England in 
1636. He is said to have been at the University with Cromwell, who when 
Wheelwright waited upon him in England, after he was Protector, remarked to 
the gentlemen about him "that he could remember the .time when he had been 
more afraid of meeting Wheelwright at fuot-ball, than of meeting any army 
since in the field, for he was infallibly sure of being tript 2ip by him." Mather, 
in A pp. to Belknapi, iii. 22.5. Wheelwright, after his banishment, went to 
Exeter, New Hampshire, from thence to Wells, in Maine, afterwards to Hamp- 
ton, and finally settled in Salisbury, Massachusetts, having been released from 
his sentence of banishment. He died at Salisbury, 15 Nov. 1679, at an ad- 
vanced age. 

t See further particulars in relation to Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, in Memoirs: 
of Winthrop and Vane, in the present volume. 



THOMAS DUDLEY. 289 

In 1640, Mr. Dudley was again chosen governor, 
taking the place of Winthrop. The latter thus modestly 
notices the event. " Some trouble there had been in 
making way for his election, and it was obtained with 
some difficulty ; for many of the elders labored much in 
it, fearing lest the long continuance of one man in the 
place should bring it to be for life, and, in time, heredi- 
tary. Besides, this gentleman was a man of approved 
wisdom and godliness, and of much good service to the 
country, and therefore it was his due to share in such 
honor and benefit as the country had to bestow." 

Richard Bcllingham succeeded Governor Dudley in 
1641, and Winthrop was governor in 1642. Although 
uniformly chosen one of the assistants, when not in a 
higher station, Dudley refused to accept that place in the 
latter year, unless the general court would give him lib- 
erty to remove from their jurisdiction whenever it might 
suit his convenience, without being bound in any existing 
oath or regulation, either as an officer, counsellor, or as- 
sistant. To these conditions the general court readily 
assented. 

About this period, there was something like a strug- 
gle between the magistrates and ministers for power and 
influence. Mr. Cotton preached the doctrine, that the 
priesthood ought to be consulted by the magistrates, not 
only before they went to war, but in all civil affairs of 
the Commonwealth, and Mr. Rogers, another minister, 
told the people, that no governor ought to be contin- 
ued in office for more than a year. These opinions met 
the indignant opposition of Governor Dudley, and even 
the milder spirit of Winthrop was roused against them. 
But however the ministers and magistrates might disa- 
37 



290 THOMAS DUDLEY. 

gree as to their separate powers^ they were sufficiently 
united to preserve for many years^ through their regula- 
tions as to the quahfications of freemen^* the closest union 
of church and state. - 

In 1644^ there being twenty-six training bands and a 
troop of horse in the colony^ it was ordained that there 
should be one general officer in time of peace, whose 
title should be Sergeant-Major General. Governor Dud- 
ley, although sixty-eight years of age, was chosen to this 
office. 

In 1645, Mr. Dudley was again chosen governor, 
and he was deputy governor from 1646 to 1649. In 
1650, he was for the fourth time elected governor; was 
deputy governor in the two following years ; and assist- 
ant in 1653, in which office he died. 

* By the old colony laws, no man could have a share in the administration 
of civil government, or give his voice in any election, unless he was a member 
of one of the churches. A citizen was required to become a member of the 
church, before he could be a freeman, until 1664, when the general court re- 
pealed the law relating to the admission of freemen, but passed another law 
allowing English subjects, being freeholders to a certain value, who were cer- 
tified by the minister of the place to be orthodox, and not vicious in their lives, 
to be made freemen, although not members of the churches. The following is 
the form of the 

Freeman's Oath. — "I, A. B., being by God's providence an inhabitant 
and freeman within the jurisdiction of this commonwealth, do freely acknowl- 
edge myself to be subject to the government thereof, and therefore do here 
swear by the great and dreadful name of the ever living God, that I will be 
true and faithful to the same, and will accordingly yield assistance and support 
thereunto, with my person and estate, as in equity I am bound, and will also 
truly endeavor to maintain and preserve all the liberties and privileges thereof, 
submitting myself to the wholesome laws and orders, made and established by 
the same; and further that I will not plot nor practice any evil against it, nor 
consent to any that shall so do, but will timely discover and reveal the same to 
lawful authority, now here established, for the speedy preventing thereof; more- 
over I do solemnly bind myself in the sight of God, that when I shall be called 
to give my voice touching any such matter of this state wherein freemen are to 
deal, I will give my vote and suffrage as I shall judge in mine own conscience 
may best conduce and tend to public weal of the body, without respect of per- 
sons, or favor of any man. So help me God, in the Lord Jesus Christ." , 



THOMAS DUDLEY. 291 

Governor Dudley, shortly after the removal of the 
Rev. Mr. Hooker and his associates from Newtown (Cam- 
bridge) to Hartford, in 1636, himself removed to Ispwich ; 
but his public engagements rendering it inconvenient 
for him to be so far from the seat of government, he es- 
tablished himself at Iloxbury, where he died on the 31st 
July, 1653, in the seventy -seventh year of his age. He 
was a man of sound judgment, the most inflexible integ- 
rity, of great public spirit, and exemplary piety. With 
strong passions, he was still placable and generous in dis- 
position. He was intolerant towards religious sectaries; 
and his zeal against heretics did not content itself with 
arguments addressed to the understanding, or reproofs 
for the conscience. He was shocked at the heresy of 
Roger Williams, who preached liberty of conscience, and 
voted for his banishment. Even more alarmed was he 
at what he believed to be the progress of error, when the 
famous Antinomian controversy a short time after shook 
the foundations of the churches; and with proportionate 
zeal did he exert himself to procure the banishment of 
Wheelwright, Anne Hutchinson, and others, as opposers 
of God's word, and enemies of the state. Through the 
whole of his life. Governor Dudley opposed and denoun- 
ced what he deemed to be heresy, with an honest zeal, 
which, in these days of universal toleration, is sometimes 
referred to as a blot upon his fame. But the candid and 
judicious, who are acquainted with the history of the Pu- 
ritans, and the circumstances under which ^'they came 
into a corner of the new world, and, with an immense 
toil and charge, made a wilderness habitable, on purpose 
there to be undisturbed in the exercise of their worship,'' 
will never be found censuring and railing at their errors. 



292 THOMAS DUDLEY. 

They will rather wonder at the wisdom of the views, 
the disinterested nobleness of principle, and self-sacri- 
ficing heroism displayed by these wonderful men, to 
whom the world is indebted for the most perfect insti- 
tutions of civil and religious freedom known among 
men. 

Morton thus speaks of the merits of Governor Dud- 
ley : — ^'His love to justice appeared at all times, and in 
special upon the judgment seat, without respect of per- 
sons in judgment, and in his own particular transactions 
with all men, he was exact and exemplary. His zeal to 
order appeared in contriving good laws, and faithfully 
executing them upon criminal offenders, heretics, and 
underminers of true religion. He had a piercing judg- 
ment to discover the wolf, though clothed with a sheep- 
skin. His love to the people was evident in serving them 
in a public capacity many years, at his own cost, and 
that as a nursing father to the churches of Christ. He 
loved the true Christian religion, and the pure worship 
of God, and cherished, as in his bosom, all godly minis- 
ters and Christians. He was exact in the practice of 
piety, in his person and family, all his life. In a word, 
he lived desi^red, and died lamented by all good men."*" 
A less favorable estimate is placed upon his character 
by Dr. Savage, who says, " A hardness in public, and 
rigidity in private life, are too observable in his charac- 
ter, and even an eagerness for pecuniary gain, which 
might not have been expected in a soldier and a states- 
man." Hutchinson says " he was zealous beyond meas- 
ure against all sorts of heretics." Of him Roger Wil- 

"* Morton's Memorial, 139. See also Johnson's estimate, in Wonder- Vyork.- 
ing Providence, p. 52. 



THOMAS DUDLEY. 293 

liams spoke, when he said, " it is known who hindered, 
who never promoted the hberty of other men's con- 
sciences." 

The following lines were found in his pocket, after 
his death, written apparently a short time before he died : 

" Dim eyes, deaf ears, cold stomach, shew 

My dissolution is in view. 

Eleven times seven near lived have I, 

And now God calls, I willing die. 

My shuttle's shot, my race is run. 

My sun is set, my deed is done. 

My span is measur'd, tale is told, 

My flower is faded, and grown old. 

My dream is vanish'd, shadows fled. 

My soul with Christ, my body dead. 

Farewell, dear wife, children, and friends ! 

Hate EiERESY ; make blessed ends ; 

Bear poverty ; live with good men ; 

So shall we meet with joy again. 
Let men of God in courts and churches watch. 
O'er such as do a toleuation hatch ; 
Lest that ill egg bring forth a cockatrice, 
To poison all with heresy and vice. 
If men be left, and otherwise combine, 
My Epitaph's, I died no Libertine." 

Governor Dudley had an anagram sent to him in 
1645, by an unknown hand, which is yet preserved in 
the files of the first Church in Roxbury. 

" Thomas Dudley. 

Ah ! old must dye. 
A death's head on your hand you neede not weare ; 
A dying head you on your shoulders beare ; 
You neede not one to mind you, you must dye, 
You in your name may spell mortalitye. 
Young men may dye, but old men, these dye must ; 
'Twill not be long before you turn to dust. 
Before you turn to dust '. ah ! must ! old ! dye ! 
What shall young doe, when old in dust do lye ? 
When old in dust lye, what New England doe .' 
When old in dust do lye, it's best dye too." 

Dudley, however, survived this solemn warning sev- 
eral years. The amusement of anagramatising the names 



294 THOMAS DUDLEY. 

of men;, was much indulged in by our forefathers^ and 
was in practice, says Mather, " as long ago as the days 
of old Lycophron." Camden, in his " Remaines," has 
a chapter upon anagrams, and cites numerous instances 
in various languages. The acrostic is another species of 
false wit nearly allied to the anagram. Numerous ex- 
amples may be found in our early books. " The rude 
rhymes of the Pilgrims, (says Judge Davis,) will find a 
ready apology with all who consider their circumstances 
and the literature of the age. Ample compensation for 
any literary defects will be found in the history of their 
lives." "Hitherto, (says Camden,) will our sparkefied 
youth laugh at their great-grandfather's English, who 
had more care to do well, than to speak minion-like; 
and left more glory to us by their exployting of great acts, 
than we shall do by forging of new words, and uncouth 
phrases."* 

Governor Dudley, as has l^efore been mentioned, 
married his first wife in lEndand. She died 27th Sep- 
tember, 1643. In the following year^ he married Mrs. 
Catherine Hackburne, widow of Samuel Hackburne. 
This lady survived Governor D^udley, and was married 
to Rev. John Allin of Dedham, 8th November, 1653, a 
little more than three months after the governor's death. 
The children of Governor Dudley, by both marriages, 
were, 

1. Samuel, born in England, about 1606, came to 
this country with his father, was educated for the minis- 
try, married Mary, daughter of Governor Winthrop in 
1633, resided at Cambridge, Boston, and Salisbury, and 
finally setded at Exeter, as the minister of that town, in 

^ * Camden's Remaines of a Greater Worke, p. 18. 



THOMAS DUDLEY. 295 

1650, where he died early in 1683, aged 77. He was 
a representative in 1644, from SaHsbury. His wife died 
at Salisbury, 12th April, 1643; and he afterwards mar- 
ried a second and third wife. The descendants of Rev. 
Samuel Dudley are very numerous in New Hampshire.* 

2. Anne, born in England, in 1612. At the age of 
sixteen she married Simon Bradstreet, afterwards gover- 
nor of Massachusetts, and accompanied him to New 
England in 1630. She was a woman of rare accomplish- 
ments, and wrote a volume of poems, probably the ear- 
nest in America, a second edition of which was published 
in 1678. f She died 16th September, 1672. 

3. Patience, who married major-general Daniel Den- 
nison, distinguished in the early annals of the colony.J 

* See Farmer and Moore's Collections, i. 155, and ii. 237. 

t Savage says " it does credit to her education, and is a real curiosity, though 
no reader, free from partiality of friendship, might coincide in the commenda- 
tion of the funeral eiogy by John Norton : 

" Could Maro's Muse but hoar her lively strain, 
He would condemn his works to fire again. 
****** 
Her breast was a brave palace, a broad street, 
Where all heroic ample thoughts did meet, 
Where nature such a tenement had ta'en, 
That other souls, to hers, dwelt in a lane." 

I General Dennison was born in England in 1613, was of Cambridge in 
1633, removed to Ipswich before 163."), was a deputy eight years, speaker in 
1649 and 16j1, major general in 1653, and an assistant twenty-nine years. He 
died 20th September, 1662, aged 70. He is spoken of by high authority as one 
of the few " popular and well principled men in the magistracy." Savage says ; 
«' The moderate spirit by which he was usually actuated, had not a general 
spread, yet the continuance of his election to the same rank for many years, 
where his sympathy was not, in relation to the controversy with the Crown, 
in unison with that of the people, is evidence of the strong hold his virtues and 
public labors had acquired." T7ie " Irenicon or Salve for Xew England's Sore," 
of which he was the author, displays his accomplishments as a scholar. John- 
son observes, he was a" godly faithful man, which is the fountain of true vali- 
dity — a good soldier, of a quick capacity, not inferior to any of the chief offi- 
cers ; — his own company arc well instructed in feats of warlike activity," 
Whitman's Hist. Anc. and Hon. Artill. 170. 



296 THOMAS DUDLEY. 

4 Mercy, born 27th September, 1621, who married 
Rev. John Woodbridge, the first minister of Andover, 
Massachusetts. She died 1st July, 1691.* 

5. , who married Major Benjamin Keayne, of 

Boston, the only son of Capt. Robert Keayne, founder 
of the "Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company" of 
Boston. The father alludes to this in his will as " ki 
unhappy and uncomfortable match." He went to Eng- 
land, where he repudiated his wife, and died about 1668. 

6. Deborah, born 27th February, 1645. 

7. Joseph, born 23d July, 1647: The second Gov- 
ernor Dudley; of whom, see memoirs in subsequent 
pages of this volume. 

8. Paul, born at Roxbury, 8th September, 1650, 
when his father, the venerable Governor Thomas, was 
73 years old. He married Mary, a daughter of Gover- 
nor Leverett, was Register of Probate for several years, 
and died in 1681. 

* Mr. Woodbridge was born at Stanton, in Wiltshire, in 1613, was educated 
in part at Oxford, came to New England in 1634, and settled at Newbury as a 
planter, but becoming a preacher, was ordained at Andover in 1645. He went 
to England in 1647, returned in 1663, and again settled at Newbury ; was 
chosen an assistant in 1683 and 1684, and died 17 March, 1695. His brother, 
Benjamin Woodbridge, D. D., was the first graduate of Harvard College. 



297 



III. JOHN HAYNES. 

John- Haynes, the third governor of Massachusetts 
Bay, was a native of the county of Essex, in England, 
where he possessed an elegant seat, called Copford Hall, 
with which he inherited an income of a thousand pounds 
a year. A gentleman of easy fortune, surrounded by all 
the comforts of Hfe, he had no motive of a pecuniary na- 
ture urging him to exchange his native land for another. 
He had, however, attached himself to the puritan inter- 
est, and watched with eagerness the progress of the emi- 
gration to America. The hopes of the pilgrims were 
beginning to be realized. The difficulties and dangers of 
the original settlements, had been surmounted. New 
Plymouth had become a prosperous colony, and the 
foundations of Boston, Dorchester, Roxbury, Watertown, 
and Cambridge had been laid. The decrees of the En- 
glish Star Chamber, and the persecutions of Archbishop 
Laud, were ^^ sifting the wheat of the three kingdoms," and 
furnishing abundant seed to plant the deserts of New Eng- 
land with men of resolute and unbending hearts. 

Won by the invitations of Governor Winthrop and 
others, Mr. Haynes, in 1633, determined to remove to 
New England. Two long months were occupied in the 
voyage, during which three sermons a day beguiled the 
weariness of the passengers, of whom there were two 
hundred on board the ship. The vessel, which was cal- 
led the Griffin, arrived at Boston on the 4th September, 
bringing, in addition to Mr. Haynes, three of the most 
eminent fathers of the New England church: Cotton, 
38 • 



298 JOHN HAYNES. 

Hooker, and Stone, the first of whom settled at Boston, 
and the others at Cambridge, then called Newtown. 

A man like Mr. Haynes, '^ possessing a large estate, 
and larger affections ; of a heavenly mind, and spotless 
life; of rare sagacity, and accurate but unassuming judg- 
ment ; by nature tolerant, ever a friend to freedom, and 
ever conciliating peace" — for such is the modern estimate 
of his character* — w^ould not long remain unnoticed in 
any community. We accordingly find that at the next 
election, in 1634, he was chosen one of the assistants of 
the colony. In the same year, he was placed on the ex- 
traordinary commission, consisting of seven persons, to 
whom was deputed the disposition of all military affairs 
whatsoever," with power to levy w^ar offensive and de- 
fensive, and to imprison, or put to death, any whom they 
should judge to be enemies to the commonwealth.! 

In 1635, Mr. Haynes succeeded Governor Dudley 
in the chief magistracy of the colony. " The reason was, 
partly, because the people would exercise their absolute 
power, and partly upon some speeches of the deputy."J 
Roger Ludlow was the deputy referred to, and aspired 
to be governor at this election. § When the vote was 
declared in favor of Mr. Haynes, he protested against 
the election as void, because the deputies of the several 
towns had agreed upon the election before they came ; 

* See Bancroft's Hist. i. 362. f See p. 286, of this volume. 

t Savage's Winthrop, i. 158. 

§ Ludlow was one of the founders of Dorchester, and one of the first assist- 
ants of the colony. Immediately after the occurrences in 1635, when he thought 
his claims neglected, he left the colony, and became an active and influential 
man in Connecticut, where he was a magistrate, deputy governor, and Commis- 
sioner of the United Colonies. In 1654, he removed to Virginia, and the time 
of his death is unknown. Hubbard says he was the brother-in-law of Endecott. 
He compiled the first code of laws in Connecticut. 



JOHX HAYNES. 299 

whereupon the general court dropped him from the Hst 
of magistrates. In the infancy of the plantation, the 
expenses of government bore somewhat heavily upon 
the people, and Governor Haynes took occasion to in- 
form them, in his address upon taking the chair, " that he 
should spare the usual charge towards his allowance, 
partly In respect of their love showed towards him, and 
partly for that he observed how much the people had 
been pressed lately with public charges.''* 

Soon after Governor Haynes was installed in office, 
information was received that the Dutch authorities at 
Manhattan, contemplated a settlement on the Connecti- 
cut river, whereupon he sent a barque round the cape to 
the Dutch governor, to acquaint him that the King had 
granted the river and country of Connecticut to English 
subjects, and desired him to forbear building any where 
thereabouts. A war of words ensued between the two 
colonies, but hostilities were averted. 

Governor Haynes was superseded in the following 
year, by Henry Vane. Hutchinson says, that " Mr. 
Haynes being no longer a rival to Mr. Winthrop, he 
would have been the most popular man, if Mr. Vane's 
solemn deportment, although he Avas not then more than 
24 or 25 years of age, had not engaged almost the whole 
colony in his favor." Savage says of Mr. Haynes, that he 
was " fortunate in being governor of Massachusetts, and 
more fortunate in removing after his first year in office, 
thereby avoiding our bitter Qontentions, to become the 
father of the new colony of Connecticut." 

As early as 1634, measures had been taken by Mr. 
Haynes and others, to ascertain the feasibility of com- 

" Savage's Winthrop, i. 150. 



300 JOHN HAYNES. 

mencing a new settlement on the Connecticut river. 
Straitened for room at Newtown^ tbey applied to the 
general court for leave to remove^ and the question was 
for sometime debated, and permission finally refused. 
But the number of proposed emigrants increasing, the 
general court afterwards consented. In October, 1635, 
a company of sixty removed, and settlements were com- 
menced at Windsor and Wethersfield; and John Win- 
throp, jr., returning from England with a commission 
from Lord Say and Seal, commenced a plantation at Say- 
brook. The succeeding winter proved so severe, that 
famine began to be apprehended; the settlements were 
partially abandoned, and many of the emigrants were 
obliged to return to Massachusetts. Their sufferings 
were extreme, and the few that remained, had to subsist 
upon acorns, malt, and grain. 

In the spring of 1636, preparations were made for a 
more effectual settlement upon the Connecticut, and af- 
ter due deliberation, the whole body of Mr. Hooker's 
church and congregation, came to the determination to 
remove. They commenced their journey in the month 
of June. It was to be through a dreary and trackless 
wilderness, of more than a hundred miles. They had 
no guide but their compass ; no covering but the heav- 
ens. There were about one hundred persons, men, wo- 
men, and children — at the head of whom, were the Rev. 
Mr. Hooker, Mr. Samuel Stone, and others, who were 
active leaders of the colgny. They drove along with 
them, a hundred and sixty head of cattle, and subsisted on 
their march through the wilderness, upon the wild fruits 
which they found, and the milk of their cows. Fish 
and fowl were plenty ; and, as they usually tarried a short 



JOHN HAYNES. 301 

time on the banks of the little lakes that lay embosomed 
in the wilderness, their young men, on such occasions, 
busied themselves in taking game. Occasionally, a huge 
bear would cross their path in advance, and hurry off 
affrighted by the formidable array. The deer, which 
were plenty in those days, would snuff up the breeze 
which told of the advancing column, and fly far oft' into 
the deep forests. Now a w^olf or panther, more bold 
than the other inhabitants of the wild, would loiter by 
the wayside, as if to dispute the passage of the adven- 
turers, until the noise of the herd, or the shouts of the 
herdsmen, or the ominous crack of firearms, admonished 
them to retire. The females who were ill, or too feeble 
to endure the journey on foot, which was through 
a perfect wilderness for more than a hundred miles, 
were borne in litters upon the shoulders of the young 
athletic men. In the evening, as they came together, 
and set their watch to keep off the beasts of prey, or 
prepare to guard against any incursions of the In- 
dians, the prayers of that little congregation went up 
into the arches of heaven to the Almighty's footstool ; 
and when the first ray of morning light tipped the tall 
pines, the thanksgivings of humble and contrite hearts 
were offered to the throne of mercy. 

The whole journey occupied nearly a fortnight, and 
during their march they had no shelter but the broad 
canopy above, or such as the branches and boughs of the 
trees afforded. Yet they accomplished their journey 
with perfect safety, and arrived with joy at their future 
residence, pleased to behold the beauties of the noble 
valley which skirted the broad and beautiful Connecticut. 
The Indian name of the new setdement was Suck- 



302 JOHN HAYNES. 

iaug. The territory was now purchased of Sunckquas- 
son, the Indian sachem of the neighborhood^ and a 
good understanding kept up with the tribe for several 
years. The town soon began to prosper ; the settlers 
multiplied in numbers, and increased in wealth; and 
many of the existing families of the present opulent city, 
trace their descent from the little Newtown colony, to 
whose exodus we have adverted. 

In the spring of 1637, Mr. Haynes removed his fam- 
ily to Connecticut, and settled at Hartford. It wa^ a pe- 
riod of intense gloom in the little colony. The Pequots, 
then the most warlike tribe in New England, were jeal- 
ous of the new settlements, and plotting their ruin. 
Many persons had been killed, or taken, and cruelly tor- 
tured. The court of assistants determined on offensive 
operations, as the only means of conquering the enemy, 
and the colonies of New Plymouth and Massachusetts 
agreed to aid them in the struggle. The army com- 
manded by Captain John Mason,* and consisting of 
seventy-seven Englflhmen, sixty Moheagan and river 
Indians, and about two hundred Narragansetts, marched 
on the 24th of May to Nihantick, a frontier to the Pe- 
quots, and the seat of one of the Narragansett sachems. 
The next morning a considerable number of Miantoni- 

* Capt. John Mason, the distinguished Pequot warrior, was born about 1600, 
and bred to arms in the Netherlands, under Sir Thomas Fairfax. He came to 
this country about 1632, was admitted freeman in 1635, having been one of the 
first settlers of Dorchester, which he represented in 1635 and 1636. In the lat- 
ter year he removed to Windsor, Connecticut, was of Saybrook in 1647, and of 
Norwich in 1659. He was a magistrate from 1642 to 1659, deputy governor, 
1660, and nine succeeding years, and major general of Connecticut. He died 
at Norwich, 1672. His son, John, a captain, was wounded in the great battle 
with the Narragansetts, 19 Dec. 1675, and died in September following. De- 
scendants of this energetic warrior are found in New England, one of whom is 
the Hon. Jeremiah Mason, LL. D., of Boston. 



JOHN HAYNES. 303 

moh's men, and of the Nihanticks. joined the Enghsh, 
who renewed their march, with nearly five hundred In- 
dians. After marching twelve miles to a ford in Pawca- 
tuck river. Mason halted, and refreshed his troops, faint- 
ing through heat and scanty provisions. Here many of 
the Narragansetts, astonished to find it his intention to 
attack the Pequots in their forts,* withdrew, and returned 
home. Under the guidance of Wequash, a revolted 
Pequot, the army proceeded in its march toward Mistic 
river, where was one of the Pequot forts, and, Avhen 
evening approached, pitched their camp by two large 
rocks. t Two hours before day, the troops were roused 
to the eventful action, the issue of which was in fear- 
ful suspense. After a march of about two miles, they 
came to the foot of the hill, on the summit of which 
stood the hostile fort. The day was nearly dawning, 
and no time was to be lost. Mason, throwing the troops 
into two divisions, pressed forward with one to the eas- 
tern, and Underbill with the other, to the western en- 
trance. When Mason drew nigh the fort, a dog barked, 
and an Indian instantly called out, Owanux ! Owanux ! 
[Englishmen ! Englishmen !] The troops pressed on, 
and, having poured a full discharge of their muskets 
through the palisades upon the astonished enemy, entered 
the fort, sword in hand. A severe conflict ensued. Many 
of the Indians were slain. Some of the Enghsh were 
killed, others wounded ; and the issue of battle was yet 
dubious. At this critical moment. Mason cried out to 

* The Pequots ha'l two forts, one at Mistic river; another several miles dis- 
tant, which was the fort of Sassacus, their great sachem, whose very name 
filled the Indians with terror. " Sassacus," said the Narragansetts, " is all one 
God; no man can kill him." I Mass. Hist. Coll., ix. 84. 

\ In Groton, Connecticut, now called Porter's rocks. Trumbull, i. 83. 



304 JOHN HAYNES. 

his men. " We must burn them." Entering a wigwam 
at the same instant^ he seized a fire brandy and put it 
into the mats with which the wigwams were covered } 
and the combustible habitations were soon wrapped in 
flames. The English, retiring without the fort, formed 
a circle around it; and Uncas with his Indians formed 
another circle in their rear. The devouring fire, and 
the English weapons, made rapid and awful devastation. 
In little more than the space of one hour, seventy wig- 
wams were burnt ; and, either by the sword or the flames, 
five hundred or six hundred Indians perished. Of the 
English, two men were killed, and sixteen wounded. 

The Governor and council of Massachusetts, on 
receiving intelligence of the success of the Connecticut 
troops, judged it needful to send forward but one hundred 
and twenty men. These troops, under the command of 
Captain Stoughton, arriving at Pequot harbor in June, 
and receiving assistance from the Narragansett Indians, 
surrounded a large body of Pequots in a swamp, and 
took eighty captives. The men, thirty in number, were 
killed, but the women and children were saved. Forty 
men, raised by Connecticut, and put under the command 
of the heroic Mason, joined Stoughton's company at 
Pequot.* While the vessels sailed along the shore, these 
allied troops pursued the fugitive Indians by land, to 
Quinnipiack,f and found some scattering Pequots on their 
march. Receiving information at Quinnipiack, that the 
enemy w^ere at a considerable distance westward, in a 
great swamp, they marched in that direction, with all 

* New London was originally called Pequot; and was occupied by the Pe- 
quot tribe. See page 148, of this volume, 
t The Indian name of New Haven. 



JOHN HAYNES. 305 

possible despatch, about 'twenty miles, and came to the 
swamp, where were eighty or one hundred warriors, 
and nearly two hundred other Indians. Some of the 
English rushing eagerly forward, were badly wounded ; 
and others, sinking into the mire, w^ere rescued by a few of 
their brave companions, who sprang forward to their 
relief with drawn swords. Some Indians were slain; 
others, finding the whole sw\amp surrounded, desired a 
parley; and, on the offer of life, about two hundred old 
men, women, and children, among whom was the sachem 
of the place, gradually came out, and submitted to the 
English. The Pequot warriors, indignantly spurning 
submission, renewed the action, which, as far as it was 
practicable, was kept up through the night. A thick fog, 
the next morning, favoring the escape of the enemy, ma- 
ny of them, among whom were sixty or seventy warriors, 
broke through the surrounding troops. About twenty 
were killed, and one hundred and eighty taken prisoners. 
The captives were divided between Connecticut and 
Massachusetts, which distributed them among the Mo- 
heagans and Narragansetts. Sassacus, the chief sachem, 
fled with about twenty of his best men to the Mohawks, 
who, at the request of the Narragansetts, cut off his head; 
and his country now became a province of the English. 
However just the occasion of this war, (says Holmes,) 
humanity demands a tear on the extinction of a valiant 
tribe, which preferred death to dependence.* 

In addition to the embarrassments occasioned by the 
struggle with the Pequots, the settlers of Connecticut, as 
the winter approached, were menaced with starvation. 

• Morton, 99. Hubbard's Indian Wars, 36—54. Trumbull, i. 69—77. • 

39 



306 JOHN HAYNES. 

The snows^ which came frequent^ were four feet deep 
from the 4th of November, 1637, until the 23rd of March 
following, and the cold was severe. In this emergencyj 
through the agency of a few persons sent among the In- 
dians, now at peace, supplies of corn were procured, and 
the danger of famine averted. 

Governor Haynes accompanied Uncas, the Moheagan 
sachem to Boston, in 1638, when the latter, who had given 
offence to Massachusetts by entertaining some of the hos- 
tile Pequots, sought a reconciliation. " This heart," said 
the sachem, laying his hand upon his breast, as he ad- 
dressed the governor, '^ is not mine, but yours; I have 
no men ; they are all yours ; command me any difficult 
thing, I will do it ; I will not believe any Indians' words 
against the English ; if any man shall kill an Englishman, 
I will put him to death, were he never so dear to me."^ 
The presents and promises of Uncas were accepted, and 
he was ever afterwards faithful to the whites. 

For a period of nearly three years after the settle- 
ment of Connecticut, all the powers of government were 
exercised by the magistrates. They had a genial su- 
perintendence of all the affairs of the plantation, without 
any direct assistance from the body of freemen. 

But in 1639, the people determined to establish a 
constitution for themselves. All the free planters of 
Windsor, Hartford and Wethersfield accordingly assem- 
bled at Hartford, on the 14th January, and adopted a 
constitution, based on the broad foundations of hberty 
and religion, which has been admired as the model of a 
republican system, and continued for a century and a 

* Savage's Winthrop, i. 266. See also Records of United Colonies, quoted 
in Hutchinson's Colony Mass. Bay, 142. 



JOHN HAYNES. 307 

half to be the basis of the civil government of Connec- 
ticut. 

This constitution ordained that there should be annu- 
ally two general courts, or legislative assemblieSj one in 
April, and the other in September ; that in the first, all 
public oilicers should be chosen ; that a governor should 
be annually appointed ; that no one should be chosen to 
this office unless he had been a magistrate, and also a 
member of some church; that the choice of officers 
should be by ballot, and by the whole body of freemen ; 
and that every man was to be considered a freeman, who 
had been received as a member by any of the towns, 
and had taken the oath of fidelity to the commonwealth; 
that each of the three towns should send four deputies 
to the general court ; and that when there was an equal 
division of votes on any question, the governor should 
have the casting vote.* 

The first election under this constitution was held 
in the April following, when John Haynes was chosen 
the first governor of Connecticut. His distinguished 
character, and the important part he had taken in the 
early settlement of the colony, naturally pointed him 
out for this station. One of his earliest acts, was to 
press upon the assembly the necessity of establishing a 
code of laws ; and that body proceeded as occasion 
required to discharge that duty. The laws at first were 
few, and time was taken to consider and digest them. 
The first statute in the Connecticut code is a kind of 
declaration, or bill of rights. It ordains, that no man's 
life shall be taken away ; no man's honor or good name 

* Hazard, i. 437 — 441, where the Constitution is inserted. Trumbull, i. App. 
No. 3. 



308 JOHN HAYNES. 

be stained; no man's person shall be arrested, restrained, 
banished, dismembered, nor any wise punished ; that 
no man shall be deprived of his wife or children; no 
man's estate or goods shall be taken away from him, nor 
any wise endamaged, under color of law, or coun- 
tenance of authority, unless it should be by the virtue 
of some express law of the colony warranting the same, 
established by the general court, and sufficiently pub- 
lished ; or in case of the defect of such law, in any 
particular case, by some clear and plain rule of the w^ord 
of God, in which the whole court shall concur. It was 
also ordained, that all persons in the colony, whether in- 
habitants or not, should enjoy the same law and justice 
without partiality or delay.* 

Under the constitution of Connecticut, no person 
could be chosen governor oftener than once in two years. 
Edward Hopkins was accordingly chosen to that office 
in 1640. Governor Haynes was again chosen in- 1641 ; 
but in 1642, from some disagreement among the freemen, 
both Mr. Haynes and Mr. Hopkins were dropped in the 
election, and George Wyllys was appointed governor. 

In 1643, Gov. Haynes was re-instated in office. In 
the same year, four of the New England colonies united 
in a confederation for mutual protection and defence. 
This union was proposed by the colonies of Connecti- 
cut and New Haven, as early as 1638, but was not final- 
ly completed until 1643.t 

Gov. Haynes was one of the most active agents in ac- 
complishing this important measure, and spent several 
weeks in Massachusetts in bringing the matter to a con- 
clusion. He was for several years one of the commis- 

• Old code of Connecticut. t See pp. 119—122, of this volume 



JOHN HAYNES. 309 

sioners of the United Colonies from Connecticut under 
this confederation. 

In the autumn of 1646, Governor Haynes, being on his 
way from Connecticut to Boston, was overtal<en by a 
tempestj and came near perishing. Gov. Winthrop, in 
, a letter, dated 19 November, says, "]\Ir. Ilaynes is come 
safe to us, but in great danger to have perished in the 
tempest, but that beyond expectation, wandering in the 
night, God brought him to an empty wigwam, where 
they found two fires burning, and w^ood ready for use. 
There they were kept two nights and a day, the storm 
continuing so long with them, with much snow as well 
as rain."* 

Gov. Haynes had during the same year escaped as- 
sassination. Sequassen, a petty sachem, hired one of 
' the Waronoke Indians to kill Gov. Hopkins and Gover- 
nor Haynes, with Mr. Whiting, one of the magistrates. 
Sequassen's hatred to Uncas was insatiable, and^ prob- 
ably, w^as directed against these gentlemen, on ac- 
count of the just and faithful protection which they had 
afforded him. The plan was, that the Waronoke In- 
dian should kill them, and charge the murder upon Uncas, 
and by that means to engage the English against him to 
his ruin. After the massacre of these gentlemen, Se- 
quassen and the murderer were to make their escape to 
the Mohawks. The Indian who was hired to perpetrate 
the murder, after he had received several girdles of wam- 
pum, as a part of his reward, considering how another of 
his tribe, named Bushheag, who attempted to kill a 
woman at Stamford sometime before, had been appre- 
hended and executed at New Haven — conceived that it 

• Savage's Winthrop, ii. 352. 



310 JOHN HAYNES. 

would be dangerous to murder English sachems. He 
also revolved in his mind^ that if the English should not 
apprehend him and kill him, he should always be afraid 
of them, and have no comfort of his life. He also re- 
collected that the English gave a reward to the Indians, 
who discovered and brought in Bushheag. He therefore 
determined, that it would be better to discover the plot, 
than to be guilty of so bloody and dangerous an action. 
In this mind he came to Hartford, a few days after he 
had received the girdles, and made known the plot.* 

Governor Haynes, while resident in Massachusetts, 
seems to have embraced the extreme views of Dudley, 
Peters, and others, in reference to rigor and strictness 
in government; and he arraigned the conduct of Gov. 
Winthrop, as being too lenient toward offenders, where- 
upon greater strictness in discipline civil and military 
was enjoined upon the magistrates.! But after his remo- 
val to Connecticut, he seems to have become more toler- 
ant in his views, and to have regretted the harsh pro- 
ceedings adopted in Massachusetts against the Anabap- 
tists. Roger Williams, in a letter dated from Providence? 
22d June, 1670, says — ^'The matter with us is not 
about these children's toys of land, meadows, cattle, 
government, &c. But here all over this colonie, a 
great number of weake and distressed soules scattered are 
flying hither from Old and New England; the Most 
High and only wise hath in his infinite wisdom provid- 
ed this country and this corner as a shelter for the poor 
and persecuted, according to their several perswasions. 
And thus that heavenly man, Mr. Hains, Governour of 
Connecticut, though he pronounced the sentence of my 

* Trumbull, i. 158. t See Life of Winthrop, p. 250, ante. 



JOHN HAYNES. 311 

long banishment against me at Cambridge, then New- 
town, yet said unto me in his own house at Hartford, 
being then in some difTerence with the Bay, "I think, 
Mr. Wilhams, that I must now confesse to you, that the 
most "svise God hath provided and cut out this part of 
the world for a refuge receptacle of all sorts of con- 
sciences. I am now under a cloud, and my brother 
Hooker, with the Bay, as you have been; we have re- 
moved from them thus far, and yet they are not satis- 
fied."* 

Governor Haynes died at Hartford, in 1654. He 
was twice married, and had eight children ; five sons and 
three daughters. By his first wife, he had Robert, Heze- 
kiah, John, Roger, and Mary ; and by his second, Joseph, 
Ruth, and Mabel. When he came into New England, 
he left his sons, Robert, and Hezekiah, and his daugh- 
ter, Mary, at Copford Hall. Upon the commencement 
of the civil wars in England, Robert espoused the royal 
cause; but Hezekiah, declaring for the parliament, was, 
afterwards, promoted to the rank of major-general, under 
Cromwell. Upon the ruin of the king's affairs, Robert 
was put under confinement, and died without issue. 
Hezekiah enjoyed Copford Hall, under his father, until 
his decease. He then possessed it as a paternal inheri- 
tance, and it descended to his heirs. John and Roger, 
who came into this country with their father, sometime 
before his death returned to England. Roger died on 
his passage or soon after his arrival. John graduated at 
Harvard College in 1656, returned and was admitted 
to the degree of Master of Arts at Cambridge in England, 
and was settled in the ministry, at or near Colchester, 

* Williams' Letter to Mjaor Mason, in I Mass. Hist. Coll. i. 280. 



312 JOHN HAYNES. 

in the county of Essex, in England, where he died'before 
1698, leaving issue. Joseph, graduated at Harvard Col- 
lege in 1658, was ordained pastor of the first church in 
Hartford, and died 24 May, 1679, leaving one son, John, 
a magistrate, and judge of the superior court of Connec- 
ticut, who graduated at Harvard College in 1689. Mary 
married Joseph Cook in England ; Ruth married Sam- 
uel Wyllys, son of Governor Wyllys, of Hartford, and 
Mabel was married to James Russell, of Charlestown, a 
counsellor, judge, and treasurer in Massachusetts; and 
all had issue. The Rev. Mr. Haynes, of Hartford, had 
one son, John, a gentleman of reputation, for some years 
one of the magistrates and judges of the colony. He had 
sons, but they died without issue, and the name became 
extinct in this country. 

Trumbull, in noticing the death of Governor Haynes, 
says — ^^He was not considered, in any respect, inferior 
to Governor Winthrop. He appeared to be a gentle- 
man of eminent piety, strict morals, and sound judgment. 
He paid attention to family government. His great in- 
tegrity, and wise management of all affairs, in private and 
public, so raised and fixed his character, in the esteem 
of the people, that they always, when the constitution 
would permit, placed him in the chief seat of govern- 
ment, and continued him in it till his death."* 

* TrumbuU's Hist. Conn. i. 216. 



313 



IV. SIR HENRY VANE. 

The Vanes are descended from an ancient family 
in Wales. The ancestor of this family, and of the Earls 
of Westmoreland and Darlington, was Howel ap Vane, of 
Monmouthshire, who lived before the Conquest. The 
first of the name distinctly noticed in history, is Sir 
Henry Vane, who was knighted by Edward, the Black 
Prince, for his bravery at the battle of Poictiers, in 1356. 
Six generations are recorded between Howel ap Vane 
and the Knight of Poictiers, and several generations suc- 
ceeded, when we find another of the family. Sir Ralph 
Vane, knighted by Henry VIII., for good conduct at the 
siege of Boulogne. He died without issue, and was suc- 
ceeded by John, his brother, who changed the name to 
Fane, and left t^o sons, Henry, the ancestor of Lord 
Barnard, and Richard, from whom is descended the Earl 
of Westmoreland. Henry, grandfather of Sir Henry 
Vane, died at Roan, 14 October, 1596. His son Henry 
of Raby Castle in Durham, and Harlow in Kent, w^ho 
resumed the name of Vane, w^as born 18 February, 
1589, and was knighted by James I. in 1611. Af- 
ter finishing his travels, and completing his educa- 
tion in foreign languages, and the other learning of his 
day, he w^as elected to Parliament from Carlisle in 1614,* 
and continued from that time, for more than thirty years, 
to exercise a controlling influence in the senate and the 

* Sir Henry Vane, the elder, was chosen from Carlisle, in the parliaments 
which assembled in 1614, 1620, and 1625, and in every parliament aflerwaids to 
the time of his death, being elected forThetford in Norfolk, Wilton in Wiltshire, 
aad for the county of Kent. Willis' Notitia Parliamentaria. 

40 



314 SIR HENRY VANE. 

cabinet. King James appointed him Cofferer to Prince 
Charles^ an office which he continued to sustain^ after 
the latter had ascended the throne. He was also a mem- 
ber of his Majesty's Privy Council. In 1631, he went 
to Denmark as Ambassador Extraordinary, and shortly 
afterwards, in the same capacity, he visited the court of 
Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden. In both countries, 
he concluded treaties of great importance to the com- 
merce and power of England. He also acted a con- 
spicuous part in military affairs. In 1633^ and again in 
1639, he entertained King Charles with great splendor 
in his castle at Raby. In the last named year he was 
made Treasurer of the Household, and advanced to the 
highest seat in the administration, as his Majesty's Prin- 
cipal Secretary of State. The Earl of Straff'ord was his 
rival, and after the Earl had been attainted and brought 
to the block, through the instrumentality of Sir Henry 
Vane and his son, the King became Offended, and re- 
moved the elder Vane from his offices. He remained, 
however, in parliament, until ejected by Cromwell, in 
1653. He died in 1654. 

Sir Henry Vane, the elder, married Frances, daugh- 
ter and heiress of Thomas Darcy, of Essex, and had a 
family of fourteen children. Sir Henry, the principal 
subject of this memoir, being the eldest, and born in 
1612. Two of his brothers, Thomas and John, died 
young. George was knighted, 22 Nov. 1640, and 
buried at Long Newton, in Durham, 1 May, 1679, having 
had thirteen children. Charles was distinguished as a di- 
plomatist in the times of the Commonwealth, particularly 
as Envoy to Lisbon. Margaret, the eldest sister, 3 June, 
1639, married Sir Thomas Pelham, ancestor of the 



SIR IIEXRY VANE. 315 

families of the Duke of New Castle, Earl of Chichester, 
and Lord Yarboroiigh. Anne, born in Aug. 1623, mar- 
ried Sir Thomas Liddell, of Ravensworth Castle, Dur- 
ham, who died in 1697. Frances, born 30 April, 1630, 
married Sir Robert Honeywood, and another married 
Sir Francis Vincent.* 

It will thus be seen that young Vane's entrance into 
life was under the most favorable circumstances. At six- 
teen years of age, he became a gentleman commoner of 
Magdalen College, Oxford. In his early youth, accord- 
ing to his own account, he had been giddy, wild, and 
fond of "good fellowship," but the year before entering 
College he became seriously inclined. As he progressed 
in his studies, he became alienated from the doctrines and 
forms of the established church, and when the period of his 
matriculation arrived, he quitted his gown, declined to 
take the oath of allegiance and supremacy, and thus for- 
feited his membership at the University. Leaving Ox- 
ford, he passed over to the Continent, visited Holland 
and France, and spent some time in Geneva. 

The rumor of his abandonment of the church, soon 
became known to the King, and his Majesty was advised 
to take steps to recover him to the cause of the establish- 
ment. Archbishop Laud, too tyrannical to be a safe 
counsellor or friend, undertook to reclaim the young dis- 
senter, but failed. The circumstances caused some excite- 
ment in the higher circles of Enghsh society at the time. 
Sir Henry Vane, the elder, then of his Majesty's Privy 
Council, who was strongly opposed to the puritans, was 
greatly disturbed by the course of his son. To relieve 

* Betham's Baronetage of England. See also Playfair's British Family 
Antiquities, and the Biographia Britannica, art. Vane 



316 SIR HENRY VANE. 

his father from embarrassment, young Vane determined 
to remove to America. At first, the father was opposed 
to the plan ; but afterwards yielded, at the instance of 
the King. 

Mr. Vane arrived at Boston, in one of the ships that 
came over in the autumn of 1635. On the 1st of No- 
vember, he was admitted a member of the church of 
Boston, and on the 3d of March following, to the free- 
dom of the colony.* 

The colonists were naturally prepared to receive him 
with open arms ; and their regard and attachment were 
increased, as they became personally acquainted with him. 
His interesting demeanor, grave and commanding aspect, 
and extraordinary talents; but above all his extensive 
theological attainments, entire devotion to the cause of 
religion, earnest zeal for its institutions, and the un- 
affected dehght with which he waited upon its ordinances 
and exercises, won the admiration, love, and veneration 
of the Puritans. After a short residence in the country, 
when the annual election came round, in May, 1636, he 
was elected Governor of Massachusetts, being at that 
time but twenty-four years of age. 

His administration was brief and stormy. He con- 
tended for principles which were in advance of the times, 
and soon found the applause which every where met his 
arrival, turned into distrust, and eventually into opposi- 
tion. 

When his election as governor was announced, a sa- 
lute was fired by the shipping in the harbor, there being 
at the time some fifteen large vessels in port. The lead- 
ing men had misgivings about there being so many for- 

* Savage's Winthrop, i. 170; ii. 366. 



SIR HENRY VANE. 317 

eign vessels in the harbor, and were apprehensive lest 
the presence of their ollicers and crews should corrupt 
the morals of the inhal)itants. Governor Vane under- 
took to remedy the evil ; and inviting the captains of all 
the ships to dine with him, he succeeded in effecting an 
arrangement, by which inward bound vessels were to 
remain below the fort, until the Governor's pass should 
be obtained ; all invoices to be submitted to the inspection 
of government before landing; and none of the ships' 
crews to remain on shore after sunset.* 

Soon after this, the mate of a British vessel affected to 
be very indignant because the King's colors had not been 
displayed upon the fort; and in a moment of excitement 
he denounced the colonists as a set of ^'^ rebels and trai- 
tors." The people became so clamorous against the 
mate, for this insult upon their loyalty, that Gov. Vane 
was obliged to order his arrest. The crew resisted the 
marshal, but the captain of the vessel at last surrendered 
the mate, who made an apology ; and this being done, 
the British officers were inclined to insist, that the flag 
should be hoisted over the fort. This was a sad dilem- 
ma for the puritans. Endecott had just before torn the 
cross from the flag at Salem, and now that they were re- 
quired to hoist the flag, on which the dreaded Papal 
Cross was represented, was an abomination. On the 
other hand, to refuse to acknowledge the King's sove- 
reignty by displaying his flag, might subject them to great 
difficulty. They hoped to escape, however, by the re- 
ply that there were no such colors in the country. The 
captains offered to lend them a flag; and then the ques- 
tion had to be submitted to the clergy. The result was, 

• Savage's Winthrop, i. 187. 



318 SIR IIEJVRY VAJVE. 

that the request of the captains was at last refused ! Gov- 
ernor Vane, although a puritan, strenuously opposed 
this over scrupulous conduct of the magistrates, and was 
supported by Dudley, one of the straitest of the sect. 
And the obnoxious flag, with the terrible cross, was 
finally displayed without the authority of the government, 
on the personal responsibility of Governor Vane and Mr. 
Dudle3\ From this hour the popularity of Governor 
Vane declined. 

During the administration of Governor Vane, Mrs. 
Anne Hutchinson, the founder of the sect of antinomians, 
arrived from England. Possessing extraordinary gifts, 
the happiness of her life consisted in religious exercises 
and investigations. It was her fortune, (says Upham,) 
"to raise a contention and kindle a strife in the infant 
commonwealth of Massachusetts, which has secured to 
her name a distinction as lasting as our annals."* She 
established meetings, and set herself up as a spiritual 
teacher. Her opinions were hostile to those of the cler- 
gy and the government ; but the power of her eloquence 
and exertions soon carried the people of Boston with 
her; and when the government took steps to silence her, 
the sympathy became almost universal in that city. All 
beyond the limits of Boston was under the sway of the 
dominant clergy. Governor Vane espoused the cause of 
Mrs. Hutchinson, as an advocate of religious freedom, 
and continued to defend her, until at the close of his ad- 
ministration, he returned to England. 

The religious views of this extraordinary woman, 
which set the colony in a flame, are substantially express- 
ed in the following description. 

• See Upham's Life of Sir Henry Vane, in I Sparks' Biography, iv. 123. 



SIR HENRY VANE. ;M9 

She believed that it was the dwelHng ol" the Holy 
Spirit in the believer's heart, that is, the possession and 
exercise of the pure and genuine and divine spirit of 
Christianity in the soul itself, which constituted justifica- 
tion, or made a person acceptable to God; that the ex- 
ternal and formal indications of piety, or sanclification, 
might appear where this inward spirit was not expe- 
rienced, and that in such cases they were utterly worth- 
less; and that the great end of the religion revealed in 
the Scriptures, was not so much to make our conduct or 
outward deportment correct, or bring us under a coven- 
ant of works, as to include us under a covenant of grace, 
by imparting to our souls the Holy Spirit of God. 

However unpalatable such doctrines were in a for- 
mal and sanctimonious condition of society and manners, 
they would probably meet with a hearty response from 
enlightened Christains of all denominations at the present 
day. It is indeed wonderful, that a female in ^^^'s. 
Hutchinson's circumstances, placed beyond the reach of 
every influence that might be thought necessary to lead 
to such results, encompassed by the privations of a wil- 
derness and the cares of a young and numerous family, 
could have made such an advance beyond the religious 
knowledge of her age.* 

When the next election came round, the controversy 
was at its height. Vane, although he meditated a return 
to England, was the candidate of the friends of toleradon, 
and Winthrop was supported by the clergy and magis- 
trates. The fathers and founders of the colony now re- 
gained the ascendancy. Mrs. Hutchinson, and her broth- 
er, John Wheelwright, were banished, and some of the 

* Upham's Vane, in I Sparks' Biog. iv. 138. 



320 SIR HENRY VANE. 

principal persons in Boston who had defended her were 
disarmed.* Governor VanCj after a spirited pamphlet 
controversy with Governor Winthrop, on the great ques- 
tions at issuCj bade adieu to the colony. f He took pas- 
sage for England^ in August^ 1637, 5,ccompanied by Lord 
Ley^ a young nobleman^ son and heir of the Earl of Marl- 
borough, who had come over a short time before to see 
the country. A large concourse of the inhabitants of 
Boston followed their honored friend and former chief 
magistrate to the wharves, and many accompanied him 
to the vessel. A parting salute was fired from the town, 
and another from the castle. 

Governor Vane's first appearance in public life, after 
his return to England, was in 1640. About this time, 
throu2;h his father's interest with the Earl of Northum- 
berljCnd, then Lord High Admiral of England, he was 
joined with Sir William Russell in the lucrative office of 
T^asurer of the Navy, whom he supplanted in 1643, and 
became sole Treasurer. He took his seat in the House 
of Commons on the 13th April, 1640, as member for 
Kingston upon Hull. 

So great was the reputation he had previously ac- 
quired, and the impression produced by his appearance 
and conduct in the House during the brief continuance 
of this Parhament, that it became an object of some 
importance to secure his favor and influence to the gov- 
ernment. He was accordingly signalized by the expres- 
sions of royal regard. In June, 1640, he received from 
King Charles the honors of knighthood, and was there- 

* See notices of the antinomian heats, in pp. 254 — 258, 287, 288, of this 
volume. 

i The pamphlets comprising this controversy are preserved in Hutchinson's 
Collection, pp. 67—100. 



SIR HENRY VANE. 321 

after, until the death of his father, in 1654, distinguished 
by tlie title, either of Sir Henry Vane the Younger, or 
Sir Henry Vane of Raby Castle, Knight. 

A new parliament having been summoned by the 
King, Sir Henry Vane was re-elected, and took his seat 
in the celebrated Long Parliament, which commenced on 
the 3d November, 1640. His career from this period was 
somewhat distinguished in its bearings upon the destiny 
of England. He took an open stand against the arbitrary 
measures of the King, and was soon considered one of 
the principal leaders of the party of republicans in 
Parliament. Wood, in his Mhenioi Oxonienses, thus 
utters the opinion of a royjflist of Vane : "^ In the be- 
ginning of the Long Parliament he was a promoter of 
the rebellion, a frequent committee-man, a speech-maker, 
a preacher, an underminer, a juggling fellow, and a plot- 
ter to gain the estates of other persons, that adhered to 
his Majesty in the worst of times. In sum, he was the 
Proteus of the times, a mere hotch-potch of religion^ 
chief ringleader of all the frantic sectarians, of a turbu- 
lent spirit and working brain, of a strong composition of 
cholcr and melancholy, an inventor not only of whim- 
seys in religion, but also of crotchets in the state, 
(as his several models testify,) and composed only of 
treason, ingratitude, and baseness."* Clarendon gives 
the description of him already quoted^ on page 254 ; 
while Hallam, in his Constitutional History of England, 
spealiS of him as follows: ^' The royalists have spoken 
of Vane with extreme dislike ; yet it should be remem- 
bered, that he was not only incorrupt, but disinterested, 
inflexible in conforming his public conduct to his prin- 

* AtheniBB Oxonienses, iii. col. 580. 

41 



322 SIR HENRY VANJC. 

ciples, and averse to every sanguinary and oppressive 
measure ; qualities not very common in revolutionary 
chiefs."* 

In the movements of the party, headed by Mr. Pym, 
which led the Earl of Strafford to the block, and pre- 
pared the way for the overthrow of the monarchy, Sir 
Henry Vane bore a conspicuous part. Sir Thomas 
Wentworth, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, in 1639, 
had opposed the appointment of the elder Vane as Sec- 
retary of State ; and when raised to the peerage, in, 
January, 1640, as Earl of Strafford, he procured his pa- 
tent to be made out with the title of " Baron Raby of 
Raby Castle," thus appropriating the name of an estate 
belonging- to Vane. Clarendon says, it was ^' an act of 
the most unnecessary provocation," on the part of Straf- 
ford, and there is little doubt that the Earl was made 
to atone for the insult upon the scaffold ; for from this 
period the Vanes, father and son, pursued him with 
an irreconcileable hatred. After the Earl's impeach- 
ment, when the bill was likely to fall to the ground for 
want of evidence. Sir Henry Vane communicated a 
paper, taken from his father's closet, containing memo- 
randa, taken by the Secretary, of opinions given by the 
Earl and others at a Council on the 5th May, 1640. 
This paper, (the production of which, under all the cir- 
cumstances, is a stain upon the character of the two 
Vanes,) and the elder Vane's testimony, caused the at- 
tainder of the Earl.f 

* Hallam's Constit. Hist. 

i On the llth November, 1640, the House of Commons resolved upon an 
impeachment of the Earl of Strafford, and Pym, the great parliamentary leader, 
was appointed to manage the impeachment. The charges were reduced to 
28 articles, alledging various misdemeanors and traitorous counsels to the 



SIR HENRY VANE. 323 

In February, 1641, he carried up to the House of 
Lords the impeachment against Archbishop Laud ; and 
in the great debate upon the Episcopacy, in June, 1641, 
he distinguished himself in the House of Commons. 
When the Assembly of Divines was summoned, in 1643, 
he was nominated by Parliament as one of the lay mem- 
bers. In the same year, when Parliament found it ne- 
cessary to gain assistance to enable them to bear up 
against the King, he was appointed one of the Commis- 
sioners to proceed to Edinburgh, for that purpose. 
The mission was perfectly successful. The Solemn 
League and Covenant was agreed upon ; a complete 
union was formed between the patriot^of England and 
Scotland, upon a basis which also comprehended the 
Irish, and was adapted to secure their favor and aid. 

King. Upon the impeachment no allusion appears to have been made by Mr. 
Pym to Sir Henry Vane, or to any evidence in his possession; and there does 
not appear to have been any judgment on the impeachment. On the lOih of 
April, 1641, in the House of Commons, Sir Henry Vane, the younger, and Mr. 
Pym, were enjoined to disclose any facts within their knowledge. Pym now 
produced a copy of the private notes taken by Secretary Vane of a meeting of 
the Council on the 5th May, going to shew that the Earl of Strafford, at that 
meeting, advised the King to traitorous measures, and the words of the paper, 
purporting to be the very words of the Earl, were quoted. The elder Vane af- 
fected great surprise at the revelation, but after proper dalliance, upon his last 
examinatiin, confirmed the principal charge, and the younger Vane coolly ex- 
plained how he obtained the private memorandum from his father's secret cabi- 
net, and imparted it to Mr. Pym. On the same day that this scene took place, the 
bill of attainder against tiie Earl was first read. An examination of the trial on 
the impeachment shews, that not one of the other Lords who were at the Coun- 
cil of the 5lh May, could remember any such words as were charged in the pa- 
per thus produced, (when other evidence was likely to fail,) and sworn to by 
Secretary Vane. Nor does it appear from the records that the House of Com- 
mons passed any vote justifying the conduct of the younger Vane on this occa- 
sion, as has been stated by some of his biographers. Whatever may have been 
the demerits of the great Earl of Strafford, a careful examination of all the au- 
thorities forces upon us the conviction that he fell a sacrifice to the enmity of 
the two Vanes. See Whitclock's Memorials, Rushworth, Nalson, L'Estrange, 
and Clarendon, and other contemporary authorities. 



324 SIR HENRY VANE. 

Hume gives the credit of this transaction to Sir Henry. 
" In this negotiation/' says he, " the man chiefly trusted 
to was Vane, who in eloquencej address, capacity, as 
well as art and dissimulation, was not surpassed by any 
one, even during that age so famous for active talents. 
By his persuasion was framed at Edinburgh the Solemn 
League and Covenant."* When the Covenant was rati- 
fied in Parliament, on the 22d September, 1643, his 
name was subscribed next to that of Cromwell on the 
list. 

As the civil war raged. Sir Henry Vane was inces- 
santly engaged in Parliament, and upon various com- 
missions appointed to treat with the King. In this capa- 
city he was at the treaty of Uxbridge in 1645, and at 
the Isle of Wight in 164S, and, it is said, "was always an 
enemy to peace. "f He resisted all attempts at compro- 
mise, except upon such a basis as would forever protect 
the people against the tyranny of the crown. But other 
counsels prevailed. On the 5th December, 1648, the 
Commons voted, 129 to 83, that the terms offered by the 
King ought to be accepted. Sir Henry Vane considered 
this to be equivalent to a restoration of Charles to the 
throne.} 

Not so thought Cromwell. He appeared next day 
with a troop of horse, and forcibly seizing forty-one of 
the members, expelled them from parliament ; those re- 
maining being devoted to his interests, and thenceforth 
known as " The Rump." 

This proceeding of Cromwell was disapproved by 
Vane, who for the present withdrew from Parliament, 

* Hume's Hist, of England. t Biographia Britannica. 

t See History of Independency, Part II, p, 26. Pari. Hist. iii. 1145. 1146. 



SIR HENRY VANE. 225 

and took no part in the impeachment, trial and execu- 
tion of King CharleSj which followed.* 

Charles siifTercd on the 30ih of January, 1649. 
On the 17th of February a Council of State was installed, 
into whose hands the executive government of the na- 
tion was committed. Sir Henry Vane was appointed a 
member of the Council. Cromwell used great pains to 
induce him to accept the appointment, and, after many 
consultations, he so far prevailed in satisfying Vane of 
the purity of his intentions in reference to the Common- 
wealth, as to overcome his reluctance again to appear 
in public life. He took his seat in the Council nine 
days after its instalment, and immediately entered, with 
his accustomed energy and ability, upon the duties of 
the office. He continued to be in the Council from 1G49 
to 1653. The powers exercised by that body were 
very great. They were intrusted with the entire com- 
mand of the military forces of England and Ireland, and 
were authorized to raise and control a navy, and to con- 
duct the whole administration of the country, in refer- 
ence both to its offensive and defensive operations in 
war. Sir Henry Vane was for some time President of 
the Council, and, as Treasurer and Commissioner for the 
Navy, he had almost the exclusive direction of that 
branch of the public service. The foreign relations were 
wholly under his management. He planned and con- 
ducted the war with the United Provinces, in which 
Blake gathered his laurels, and won for his country the 
proud title of mistress of the seas ; and he exhibited a 

* " Sir Henry Vane did not approve putting the King to death, nor of the force 
pnt on Parliament, but withdrew while these things were acting." — Burnet'i 
History of his Own Times, i. 163. 



326 SIR HENRY VANE. 

patriotic and generous spirit to his countrymen by an 
unusual example of disinterested devotion to the pub- 
lic cause. In order to lighten the burden of the war, 
and to encourage the people to carry it on with vigor, 
he voluntarily relinquished the profits of the very lucra- 
tive office he held, as Treasurer of the Navy, and ap- 
propriated them to the common treasury.^ 

But the genius of Sir Henry Vane was not confined 
to the conduct of foreign wars, brilliant and wonderful 
as was its exercise in that department. At this period 
of his life his labors were so various, so complicated and 
so constant, that they were regarded as almost incredi- 
ble. From an early hour in the morning until late at 
night, he was every moment engaged in the actual trans- 
action of business.! His acts are stamped upon the his- 
tory of his country. 

On the 20th April, 1653, Cromwell suddenly entered 
the House of Parliament, and, backed by his soldiers, 
exclaimed, '' You are no Parliament ! Begone, and give 
place to honester men." Thus ended the famous Long 
Parliament, and Cromwell had established his authority 

* The income thus relinquished was from £3,000 to £6,000 per annum. 

1 The fillowlnj tribute of praise was at tliis period addressed to Sir Henry 
Vane, by the great Poet of England : 

" Vane, young in yen?, but in si.ge counsel old, 

Than whom a hcttRr senator ne'er heUI 

The holm of Rome, when gnwns, not arms, repelled 
The fierce lipirot, and the African bold. 
Whether to settle peace, or to unfold 

The drift of hollow states hard to bo spelled ; 

Then to advise how war may best upheld 

Move by her tWT main nerves, iron and gold, 

In all her equipage ; besides to know 

Both spiritual power and civil, what each meani, 
What severs each, tliou hast learnt, which few have donA ; 
The bounds of either sword to thee we owe ; 

Therefore on thy firm hand Religion leans 
In peace, and reckons thee her eldest son." 

JoMIf MtLTON. 



SIR HENRY VANE. 327 

upon the ruins of the CommonweaUh. Sir Henry Vane, 
shocked at the conduct of CromwcUj now retired to his 
estate at Raby Castle.* Here he wrote and published a 
pamphlet, entitled the ^'Healing Question/' in opposi- 
tion to Cromwell, for which he was summoned before 
the Protector, charged with seditious intent, and required 
to give bond to keep the peace, which neglecting to do, 
he was arrested and imprisoned in Carisbrook Castle in 
the Isle of Wight; from which, Cromwell, not choosing 
to take his life, he was liberated at the close of the year 
1656. 

Oliver Cromwell died on the 3d September, 1658, 
and Richard, his son, succeeded to the Protectorship. 
A new Parliament was summoned in January, 1659. 
The partisans of the new Protector opposed the return 
of Sir Henry Vane; and though he was duly chosen from 
his former borough, they gave the election to another. 
He determined to persevere, and was finally returned 
from Whitchurch, in Southamptonshire. 

Fearful that the republican party, which was strong 
in the House, might gain the ascendancy, the leading 

* " Whon Lieutenant Colonel Worsley entered the House of Commons with 
two files of musqiieteers, to drive out tha members, on 2,)tli April, 1653, Sir 
Henry Vane said aloud, 'This is not honest: yea, it is against morality and 
common honesty.' Upon which Cromwell fell to railing at him, crying out 
with a loud voice, 'O Sir Henry Vane, Sir Henry Vane 1 The Lord deliver me 
from Sir Henry Vane !" Ludlow's INIem. II. 457. 

" Young Sir H. Vane, notwithstanding the affronts he received at the disso- 
lution of the Parliament, was invited, being in Lincolnshire, by a letter from 
the Council, which invitation he answered by a letter extracted out of that part 
of the Apocalypse, wherein the reign of the Saints is mentioned, which he 
saith he believes will now begin ; but for his part he is willing to deter his share 
in it until he comes to Heaven ; and desired to be e.xcused in yielding to their 
desires. Yet upon second thoughts lie is come to London, and I believe will, 
like Tiberius, upon little entreaty, accept a share in this empire." Intercepted 
Letter T. Robinson to Mr. Stoneham at the Hague, June 3, 1653. Thurloe's 
State Papers, i. 265. 



328 SIR HENRY VANE. 

officers of the army, on the 21st of April, 1659, sent a 
request to Richard, to dissolve the Parliament, intima- 
ting very plainly that unless he complied, they should 
deprive him of power, and assume the whole gov- 
ernment to themselves. The Protector accordingly 
despatched the Keeper of the Seals to dissolve the Par- 
liament. Getting information of this design, the House 
ordered their doors to be closed, and the gentleman usher 
of the black rod was not permitted to enter. It was on 
this occasion, (says Mr. Upham, following the Biographia 
Britannica,) that Sir Henry Vane delivered the follow- 
ing speech, which produced an overwhelming effect upon 
the House and nation, and entirely demolished the power 
of the Protector:* 

" Mr. Speaker : Among all the people of the universe, 
I know none who have shown so much zeal for the li- 
berty of their country, as the English, at this time, have 
done. They have, by the help of Divine Providence, 
overcome all obstacles, and have made themselves free. 
We have driven away the hereditary tyranny of the 
house of Stuart, at the expense of much blood and trea- 
sure, in hopes of enjoying hereditary liberty, after having 
shaken off the yoke of kingship; and there is not a man 
amongst us, who could have imagined that any person 
would be so bold as to dare attempt the ravishing from 
us that freedom, which has cost us so much blood and so 
much labor. But so it happens, I know not by what 
misfortune, we are fiillen into the error of those, who 
poisoned the Emperor Titus to make room for Domitian, 
who made away Augustus that they might have Tiberius, 
and changed Claudius for Nero. 

* See Upham's Life of Vane, in I Sparks, iv. 



SIR HENRY VANE. 329 

" I am sensible these examples are foreign from my 
subject, since the Romans, in those days, were buried in 
lewdness and luxury; whereas the people of England 
are now renowned, all over the world, for their great 
virtue and discipline ; and yet suffer an idiot, without 
courage, without sense, nay, without ambition, to have 
dominion in a country of liberty. 

"One could bear a litde with Oliver Cromwell, 
though, contrary to his oath of fidelity to the Parliament, 
contrary to his duty to the public, contrary to the res- 
pect he owed to that venerable body from whom he re- 
ceived his authority, he usurped the government. His 
merit was so extraordinary, that our judgment and pas- 
sions might be blinded by it. He made his way to em- 
pire by the most illustrious actions. He held under 
his command an army that had made him a conqueror, 
and a people that had made him their general. 

"But as for Richard Cromwell, his son, who is he.'' 
What are his titles.'^ We have seen that he has a sword 
by his side, but did he ever draw it.'' And, what is of 
more importance in this case, is he fit to get obedience 
from a mighty nation, who could never make a footman 
obey him.^ Yet, we must recognise this man as our 
king, under the style of Protector ! — a man without birth, 
without courage, without conduct. For my part, I de- 
clare. Sir, it shall never be said that I made such a man 
my master." 

"This impetuous torrent swept every thing before it. 
Oratory, genius, and the spirit of liberty never achieved 
a more complete triumph. It was signal and decisive, 
instantaneous and irresistible. It broke, at once and for- 
ever, the power of Richard and his party, and the con- 
42 



330 SIR HENRY VANE. 

trol of the country again passed into the hands of the 
republicans. Richard immediately abdicated the Pro- 
tectorate, having at the same time issued a Proclamation 
dissolving the Parliament; and the general voice of the 
country was so clearly and strongly uttered, that the mili- 
tary factions bowed to its demand, and the famous Long 
Parliament, which Oliver Cromwell had dispersed in 
1653, was once more summoned to assemble, by a de- 
claration from the council of officers, dated on the 6th of 
May, 1659."* 

Such is the account given by the intelligent biogra- 
pher of Vane, of the effect of a supposed speech of Sir 
Henry Vane. His authority is a note in the Biographia 
Britannica, copied fromOldmixon'sHistory of the Stuarts, 
Where Oldmixon found it, does not appear, and his au- 
thority is not always to be rehed upon. Neither White- 
locke, who was in Parliament at the time, nor Ludlow, 
also in Parliament, and the friend of Vane, make any 
mention of the speech ; nor does it appear from Burton's 
Diary during the Protectorate, used by Clarendon, that 
any such speech was made by Sir Henry Vane, or any 
body else in Parliament. The entire speech is probably 
a fiction. f 

The Parliament assembled by Richard in January, 
upon the demand of the army was dissolved by Procla- 
mation on the 22d of April. On the 6th of May, the 

* Upham's Life of Sir Henry Vane, in I Sparks, iv. 

t For many of the corrected dates given in this memoir, and in particular for 
the correction of some of the modern accounts of Sir Henry Vane's agency in 
bringing the Earl of Strafford to the block, and in the proceedings pending the 
abdication of Richard Cromwell, the writer is indebted to the suggestions of that 
thorough antiquary, Petek Force, Esq., of Washington, D. C, and the free use 
of the rich stores in his invaluable library. 



SIR HENRY VANE. 331 

army published a Declaration^ requesting the members of" 
the Long Parliament to re-assemble, and that body met on 
the 7thj at Whitehall. 

The records of the time would seem to disprove any 
feeling of hostility towards Richard. Indeed the Parlia- 
ment treated him with kindness, and in the debates given 
by Burton, he is rarely spoken of, even in the stormiest 
scenes in that body, with harshness. When the army 
began to dictate, and the Parliament doubted his power 
or right to the protectorship, he seems to have made up 
his mind to seek his own comfort and security by abdi- 
cating. On the 7th of May, 1659, the Commons made 
their declaration against any government of a single per- 
son. Kingship, or House of Peers; and on the same day, 
Fleetwood, Haslerigge, Vane, Ludlow, Salway, Syden- 
ham and Jones were made a Committee of Safety. On 
the 14th, a Council of State was agreed upon, and Sir 
Henry Vane was one of the number. On the 20th of 
May, he was one of the committee appointed " to prepare 
a Declaration to the Nation how affairs stood with the 
Commonwealth, when the House was interrupted [20 
April, 1653,] and how affairs stood at present." On the 
25th, he was appointed at the head of a committee to con- 
sider " what is fit, to be done as to the settlement of a 
comfortable and honorable subsistence on Richard Crom- 
well, eldest son of the late Lord General Cromwell." 
And on the same day, Richard's letter of abdication is 
dated. 

On the 26th of May, Sir Henry Vane was placed 
first on a committee of seven, to manage the affairs of the 
Admiralty and Navy, and in September, he was Presi- 
dent of the Council. On the 13th of October follow- 



332 SIR HENRY VANE. 

ing, the army took possession of the Hall where Parlia- 
ment sat, and prevented their further meeting. Vane now 
took sides with the army against the Parliament. On the 
17th, he was one of the committee of ten appointed by 
the council of officers, to carry on the affairs of Govern- 
ment; on the 26th, was one of the Committee of Safety; 
and on the 1st of November, was one of a committee 
appointed to consider a form of government for three 
nations as one commonwealth.* 

On the 26th December, 1659, through the influence 
of General Monk, the Parliament was again assembled. 
That body were now suspicious of Vane, and question- 
ing some of his proceedings with the army, on the 9th 
of January following, ordered him to retire to his house 
at Raby, and await further orders, at the same time dis- 
missing him from Parliament. Delaying to comply, and 
endeavoring to stir up opposition to Parliament, the 
House in February ordered him to be sent under cus- 
tody to Raby, and afterwards to be conveyed by the 
Ser2:eant at Arms to his house at Bellew, in Lincolnshire. 

After King Charles' restoration, Sir Henry Vane, 
having no apprehension of danger, went up to his house 
in London. But on the 11th June, 1660, the House of 
Commons resolved that he should be one of the twenty 
persons excepted out of the King's Proclamation of Par- 
don, and in July following he was committed to the 
Tower. From the Tower he was afterwards removed 
to other prisons, and finally to the Isle of Scilly. In 
August, 1660, the Commons petitioned the King, that 

* Whitelocke, p. 688, says Sir H. Vane was commissioned 5 Nov. 1659, to 
raise a regiment of horse. On the 14th Jan. 1660, Parliament ordered that the 
regiment of foot, called Sir Harry Vane's, should be forthwith disbanded. 



SIR HENRY VAJVE. 333 

if Sir Henry Vane should be attainted, his Hfe might be 
spared — to which the King assented ; but after the in- 
surrection of the Fifth Monarchy men,* in January, 1661, 
the Commons withdrew their request that his hfe 
might be spared, and he was remanded to the Tower. f 

He was arraigned before the Court of King's Bench 
for trial, on the 2d June, 1662, the verdict of guilty was 
rendered on the 6th, sentence pronounced on the 11th, 
and on the 14th, he was executed on Tower Hill. 

It being observed that the dying speeches of the re- 
gicides made an impression upon the multitude, unfavor- 
able to the government, measures were taken to prevent 
Sir Henry Vane from addressing the people. "His tri- 
al," says Bancroft, "he had converted into a triumph." 
And when he offered to address the people from the 
scaffold, the King's officers interrupted him, trumpets 
were blown in his face, and personal violence was resort- 
ed to in snatching away his papers. " Blessed be God," 
he exclaimed, as he bared his neck for the axe, " I have 
kept a conscience void of offence to this day, and have 
not deserted the righteous cause for which I suffer." 
His heroic bearing upon his execution, was the admira- 

* The principal idea of this fanatical sect, was, that our Saviour was coming 
down, to erect a Fifth Monarchy upon earth, which was to last for a thousand 
years. Sir Henry Vane's pamphlet, called "The Retired Man's Meditations," 
&c., published in 1655, contained an exposition of some of the mystical doc- 
trines of these enthusiasts. 

t The government had now resolved to crush tlie republican party, of which 
Vane was a leader. "Certainly," wrote the King, "Sir Henry Vane is too 
dangerous a man to let live, if we can honestly put him out of the way." Lud- 
low says, " the cause of his destruction was because his adversaries knew his 
integrity, and feared his abilities." But Burnet says, " the great share he had 
in the attainder of the Earl of Strafford, and in the whole turn of affairs to the 
total change of the government; but above all the great opinion that was had of 
his parts and capacity to embroil matters again, made the Court think it was 
necessary to put him out of the way." 



334 SIR HENRY VANE. 

tion of the times; and produced so great a sensation 
throughout the kingdom^ that the King found it expedi- 
ent to allay the public sympathy, by restoring to the fam- 
ily of Sir Henry Vane all his estates and honors. 

Sir Henry Vane, in July, 1639, married Frances, 
daughter of Sir Christopher Wray, of Glenkworth, in Lin- 
colnshire, and had a family of eleven children. Christo- 
pher, the eldest, was knighted by Charles H., was of the 
Privy Council to James H., and in July, 1698, was 
created Baron Bernard of Bernard Castle, in the Bish- 
oprick of Durham. He married Elizabeth, eldest daugh- 
ter of Gilbert Holies, Earl of Clare, and sister and co- 
heiress of John, Duke of New-Castle, and died at his 
seat in Fairlawn, Kent, in 1723. 

Gilbert Vane, the second Lord Bernard, died in 1753; 
and his son, Henry Vane, in the following year was cre- 
ated Viscount Bernard and Earl of Darlington. He 
married a daughter of Charles, Duke of Cleveland, and 
died in 1758. 

The present lineal descendant is William Harry Vane, 
who in 1833, was created Marquis of Cleveland, with 
the names and titles of Baron Raby of Raby Castle, and 
Duke of Cleveland. 



335 



V. RICHARD BELLINGHAM. 

Richard Bellingham, the fifth Governor under 
the first Massachusetts charter, was a native of England, 
born in 1592. The editor of Wintlirop says, ^^he was 
of a good family in England, and perhaps Richard Bel- 
lingham, who was recorder of Boston, in 1625, was his 
father." He was educated to the profession of the law, 
which he abandoned, and came to this country in 1634.* 
On the 3d of August in that year, he joined the church 
at Boston, with his wife Elizabeth, whose death is men- 
tioned as having occurred not long after. 

Mr. Bellingham was one of the twenty-six original 
patentees named in the charter of King Charles I. in 
1628; and being well qualified to take an active part in 
the affairs of the infant colony, the opportunity was not 
long wanting. He was chosen a deputy in March, 1635. 
He was an assistant from 1636 to 1639, and from 1643 
to 1652; and was also treasurer of the colony from 1637 
to 1639. In May, 1635, the general court placed him 

* Johnson, in the " Wonder- Working Providence," thus notices the arrival 
of Mr. Bellingham : " At this time came over the much honored Mr. Richard 
Bellingham, whose Estate and person did much for the civill Government of this 
wandering people, hee being learned in the Lawes of England, and experiment- 
ally fitted for the worke, of whom I am bold to say as followeth : 
RicHABDUS now, arise must thou, Christ seed hath tliee to plead, 
His people's cause, with equall Lawes, ia wildcrnosse them lead; 
Though slow of speech, thy counscll reach, shall each occasion well. 
Sure thy stern look, it cannot brook, those wickedly robell. 
With labour might thy pen indite doth Lawes for people's learning : 
That judge with skill, and not with will, unarbitrate discerning ; 
Bellingham, thou, on valiant now, stop not in discontent. 
For Christ with crown, will thee renown, then spend for him, be spent ; 
As thou hast done, thy race still run till death, no death shall stay 
Christ's work of might, till Scripture light bring Resurrection day." 



336 RICHARD EELLINGHAM. 

upon the commission for military affairs, which Winthrop 
says " had power of life and limb" — and which was in- 
deed the most important power exercised in the colony.* 
His associates in the commission were the governor, de- 
puty governor, Winthrop, Endecott and others, and they 
were empowered to make war offensive and defensive, 
and to imprison such as they might deem to be enemies 
of the commonwealth, and in case of refusal to come un- 
der restraint, to put offenders to death. 

At the succeeding general court, held at Newtown, 
[Cambridge,] 6th May, Mr. Bellingham was chosen dep- 
uty governor. From this period he was annually cho- 
sen a magistrate until 1641. Hutchinson represents 
him to have been, at this period, like Winthrop, Dud- 
ley, and Bradstreet, a man of property and estate above 
most of the planters of the colony. 

In the framing of the colonial laws, which occupied 
the attention of the General Court from time to time, 
Mr. Bellingham, being a lawyer, and a man distinguished 
alike for good judgment and integrity, had a greater 
share than any other persoti of his time, excepting per- 
haps Governor Winthrop. 

In 1640, Mr. Bellingham was re-elected deputy 
governor; and at the election in 1641, he was chosen 
governor, in opposition to Winthrop, by a majority of 
six votes. There were rival and party interests, even 
at that early day, amongst those who had fled from a 
common persecution. Winthrop seems to have been 
the favorite candidate of the General Court, and Bel- 
lingham, for the time, to have been the candidate of the 

* See pp. 286, 298, cf this volume. 



KKHAKO IHMJ.I.NGHAM. 337 

people ; and no sJooner was the result known, than the 
Court manifested their discontent, by repeaUng the or- 
der formerly made for an annual allowance of £100 to 
the governor. There was no general dislike of the ex- 
cellent Winthrop, but the people held to the democratic 
doctrine of rotation in ofhce, even to the neglect of so 
good a man as Winthrop, '' lest there should be a gover- 
nor for life." Mr. Winthrop seems to have felt some 
little mortification at this result, and complained that 
" there w^ere divers w ho had not given in their votes," 
and were denied by the magistrates, " because they had 
not given them in at the doors."* At the following 
election, however, the Court party rallied, and Winthrop 
was again elected. 

During the few years preceding, the harmony of the 
people was greatly disturbed by the Antinomian contro- 
versy, in which the celebrated Anne Hutchinson bore so 
conspicuous a part. There were factions in the church, 
and factions in state, which for a long time divided the 
people on almost every question. There were other 
circumstances, however, which contributed to render 
the first administration of Bellingham unpleasant, and 
finally unpopular. Toward the close of the year, the 
General Court being in session, there were " uncomfort- 



• "There had been much laboring to have Mr. Bellingham chosen, and when 
the votes were numbered, he had six more than the others ; but there were 
divers who had not given in their votes, who now came into the court, and de- 
sired their liberty, which was denied by some of the magistrates, because they 
had not given them in at the doors. But others thought it was an injury, yet 
were silent, because it concerned themselves, for the order of giving in their 
votes at the door was no order of Court, but only direction of some of the ma- 
gistrates ; and without question, if any freeman tender his vote before the elec- 
tion be passed and published, it ought to be received." — Savage's Winthrop, 
ii. 35. 

43 



338 RICHARD BELLINGHAM. 



able agitations and contentions between the governor and 
Court." Winthrop says that they arose from the jealousy 
of the governor^ at " seeing some others of the magis- 
trates bear more sway with the people than himself, and 
that they were called to be of the standing council for 
life, and himself passed by." And he goes on to pro- 
nounce the conduct of Governor Bellingham in this in- 
stance to be the ^^ occasion of grief to many godly minds, 
and matter of reproach to the whole Court in the mouths 
of others." 

The prejudices of Governor Bellingham's opponents, 
in this case, seem to have outstripped their judgment, as 
his alledged offences bear no proportion to the formal rep- 
rimand which was imposed. One was, that the gover- 
nor had taken the part of a poor miller, of the name of 
Howe, of Watertown, in a dispute about the title of a 
mill, against the rich and austere Dudley; and another 
was, that he had interfered improperly in the matter of 
a fine imposed upon a citizen for an infraction of the 
law. The governor was inflexible in his opinions, and 
probably did not spare his opponents in the heat of the 
controversy. The deputies, after consulting together, 
gave him, says Winthrop, ^' a solemn admonition, which 
was never done to any governor before." 

There was another proceeding, however, on the part 
of the governor, which greatly offended the puritan 
delicacy of the elders and magistrates. Winthrop, who 
relates many other things less proper to be told, gravely 
expresses a doubt whether the facts in this case were 
'^ fit to be published." There resided at this period in 
the family of Governor Bellingham, a young man, who 
had been paying his addresses to a gentlewoman of the 



RICHARD BELLINGHAM. 339 

neighborhood, of the name of Penelope Pelham, a sister 
of Herbert Pelham ;* and matters had proceeded so far, 
Winthrop says, that she '^was ready to be contracted to 
him" in marriage. The governor, who was a widower, 
suddenly made overtures to the damsel, who, being daz- 
zled by the prospects of a better establishment thus sud- 
denly placed before her, accepted his suit, jilted her for- 
mer admirer, and married his excellency. This little 
episode in the affairs of the colony, excited universal 
attention and animadversion. The governor, it seems, 
not only disappointed the hopes of the unsuccessful 
suitor, but he committed a gross breach of order, in re- 
fusing to have his contract of marriage published where 
he dwelt, according to law, and also by performing the 
marriage ceremony himself. This he claimed the right 
to do, in his capacity of magistrate, but it was contrary 
to the practice of the colony. These offences were 
deemed so inexcusable, that he was presented by the 
grand inquest for a breach of the law ; and the General 
Court, not being in a very friendly mood, took up the 
matter, and through their secretary formally summoned 
the governor to answer to the prosecution. But the 
governor, refusing to descend from his high place as 
judge on the bench, to take the bar as an offender, and 
the magistrates not wishing to proceed to extremities, 
the matter was finally suffered to rest, without any fur- 
ther proceedings. But the popular opinion was for the 
time decidedly against the governor, and, as a conse- 
quence, in 1642, he was dropped from office, and Win- 
throp chosen in his stead. 

* Herbert Pelham was an assistant from 1646 to 1649. He was of the same 
family with Thomos, Lord Pelham, who on the death of John Holies, Duke of 
New-Castle, 15th July, 1711, succeeded that nobleman in his estate and titles. 



340 RICHARD BELLINGHAM. 

After this, we hear little of Governor Bellingham for 
several years, except in occasional conflicts with his 
brethren of the magistracy, whose course he did not ap- 
prove. With Mr. Saltonstall, of Salem, one of the most 
worthy of the fathers of New England, we find Gover- 
nor Bellingham frequently joined in opposition to the rest 
of the council, and taking part with the deputies against 
the powers claimed by the magistrates.* 

In 1644, another controversy arose out of a trifling 
affair, which set the little colony by the ears, and so di- 
vided the magistrates and deputies, that the elders were 
obliged to interfere, and the difficulty was only ended by 
both parties finally getting weary of the dispute, and glad 
to compromise. A poor woman had lost a swine, which 
strayed away, and after some time she found it, as she 
alledged, in the possession of a rich neighbor. She 
claimed the swine, but the neighbor denying that it was 
her's, refused to deliver it up. She appealed to the mag- 
istrates. Bellingham, with his usual readiness to protect 
the interests of the weaker party against the more pow- 
erful, took up the cause of the poor woman; while Dud- 
ley, on the other hand, as in the case of the miller, es- 
poused the cause of the partrician. The contest waxed 
warm, and there being no hope of ending it, Dudley and 
Bellingham, at last, '•'■ in order that the public peace might 
be restored," arranged a compromise between the par- 
ties. 

In a popular excitement which occurred two years 
afterward, when some '^ persons of figure," who had set- 
tled at Scituate, undertook to complain of the illiberal- 
ity of the government of the colony, we find Mr. Belling- 

"* Savage's Wiulhrop, ii. 186, 209. 



RKMAKI) Br.LLINGlIAM. 341 

ham opposed to rigorous measures, and in favor of that 
Christian toleration, which has since become a distin- 
guishing feature in our institutions.* 

In 1653; Mr. BelHngham was again chosen deputy 
governor; and in the following year, governor. In 1655, 
he was again elected deputy governor, and was annually 
re-elected until 1665. He was then chosen governor, in 
which office he continued under annual elections until 
his death, in 1672. 

During this long period, he was actively engaged in 
the affairs of the colony, and carefully watched over its 
interests in the trying periods of the revolution, the pro- 
tectorate, and the restoration. During the latter years 
of the reign of Charles I., and during the stern despo- 
tism of Cromwell, when the colonists were increasing in 
numbers and w^ealth, and were apprehensive of some 
invasion of their chartered privileges, Bellingham was 
an admirable pilot to carry them through the storm. Af- 
ter the restoration, and at a time when fears were enter- 
tained of the disposition of Charles II. respecting the 
charter, Mr. Bellingham w^as appointed, with Leverett 
and others, " to receive the charter and duplicate there- 
of in open court," for safe keeping. The same deter- 
mination probably existed at this time to preserve their 
Charter, at whatever hazard, that actuated the people of 
Connecticut, when Andros, twenty-two years afterwards, 
demanded the surrender of theirs. 

In obedience to a royal summons, agents had repaired 
to London to answer allegations against the colony, with 
whose explanations the King declared himself to be sat- 

* Savage's Wintlirop, ii. 292. See notices of the controvcrsj' with the men 
of Scituaic, pp 121 — 127, 261—263, of this volume. 



342 RICHARD BELLINGHAM. 

isfied, and promised to confirm their charter, at the 
same time enjoining upon them the toleration of Epis- 
copalians and Quakers. A short time afterwards, how- 
ever, the colony was alarmed by the appearance of four 
royal commissioners, who had been appointed for the 
purpose of exercising a supervisory power over all the 
colonial governments. The spirit of the colony was 
roused. They considered the commission to be, as in 
truth it was, in derogation of the powers granted by 
their charter. The colonial government had now a 
difficult task to perform. On the one hand, they were 
determined to resist at the thresh hold any invasion of 
their chartered privileges, and on the other hand, loyalty 
to the sovereign required that they should be discreet 
in their proceedings. An extra session of the General 
Court' was summoned, and the bold and decided stand 
at once taken, not to recognize the authority of the com- 
missioners. An address was at the same time forwarded 
to the King, explaining and defending the course adopted. 
The proceedings of the commissioners were in general 
arbitrary and impolitic, and adapted rather to distract 
than to tranquilize the people. On their return to Eng- 
land, they did not fail to represent the conduct of Massa- 
chusetts in the most unfavorable light. The King was 
vexed at this instance of disregard for prerogative, and is- 
sued peremptory orders to Governor Bellingham and four 
others, who were named, to appear before him, and "an- 
swer for refusing the authority of his commissioners." In- 
stead of complying with this injunction, they addressed a 
letter to the Secretary of State, in which they affected to 
doubt the authenticity of the royal mandate. They pro- 
fess the utmost loyalty, and say that their case had been 



RICHARD BELLINGHAM. 343 

already so well unfolded, that the wisest among them 
could not make it any clearer. With this manifestation 
of loyalty, and the timely present of a ship-load of masts 
for the royal navy, at that time much wanted, and which 
was sent forward to the King, he was appeased — and 
the cloud, which had for some time been gathering over 
the colony, was dispersed. 

Contemporary with the alarm occasioned by the pro- 
ceedings of the Royal Commissioners, was the religious 
excitement occasioned by the anabaptists. A law had 
been passed against them in 1644, with the penalty of 
banishment for adherence to their opinions, and con- 
tempt of civil authority. It does not appear, however, that 
any prosecutions were commenced until about 1665, when 
the sect had considerably increased. The dawn of a better 
spirit was seen in 1668, when, before proceeding to ban- 
ish those who were deemed heretics, an opportunity was 
given for them to maintain their opinions before the pub- 
lic. In March, of that year, the anabaptists were sum 
moned to a public dispute upon their peculiar sentiments, 
'"'' that it might be determined whether they were erro- 
neous or not."* Six of the ablest divines in the colony 
were appointed to manage the debate, and, as if fearful 
that these learned clergymen might not be a match for 
a few illiterate baptists, the governor and magistrates were 
requested to meet with them. The debate began on the 
14th of April, and continued two days, in the first 
church at Boston. Governor Bellingham took part in 

•A record of this remarkable conference, whereof the first day occupies 
Bome flirty pages, and tlie second twenty-six pages of manuscript, is yet in 
existence ; and d ublless deserves more notice than our theological antiquaries 
have yet bestowed upon it. See II Mass. Hist. Coll., (Danforth Papers,) viii. 
HI. 



344 RICHARD BELLI\GHAM. 

this conference, the result or proceedings of which have 
never been made public. The storm which had threaten- 
ed the peace of the colony, however, from this quarter, 
soon passed over. 

Although, as before intimated, Governor Bellingham 
was less rigid than his associates Winthrop and Dudley, 
in his religious opinions, he was devotedly attached to 
the puritan faith, and warmly opposed any movement, 
which he feared might weaken or prejudice the church. 
He was opposed to the establishment of a new church 
in Boston, in 1669, ^' as detrimental to the public peace," 
and summoned the council to consider the subject, but 
they declined to interfere. In the whole controversy 
growing out of the settlement of Davenport, he was the 
advocate of the first or original church. 

The witchcraft delusion was at this time existing in 
New England, and a sister of Governor Bellingham, the 
widow of Wilham Hibbins, was executed in June, 1656, 
as a witch, being the second victim in this country to that 
absurd fanaticism.* Hutchinson intimates that some pe- 
cuniary losses of her husband, in the latter part of his 
life, had so soured her temper, that she became quarrel- 
some, and falling under church censures, was so odi- 
ous to the people, that they accused her of witch- 
craft. It was of her that the famous Norton made the 
remark, that " one of the magistrates' wives was hanged 
for a witch, only for having more wit than her neigh- 
bors."! 

* William Hibbins was admitted a freeman, May 13, 1640; was a deputy 
from Boston in 1640 and 1641, and an assistant from 1643, to his death, July 23, 
1654. He was a man of some note, and had been agent of the colony in Eng- 
land. 

• Savage's Winthrop, i. 321. Hutch. Colony Mass. Bay, 187. 



RICHARD nELMlVOHAM. 345 

The prior case of witchcralt here I'dcrred to, was 
that ol' Mariijarct JoncSj who was condemned as a witch, 
and executed at Charlestown^ Massachusetts, in 1G48. 
From this period, although the behef in witchcraft was 
general, we hear of no morl? executions, until after the 
great Sir Matthew Hale had pronounced judgment against 
the Suflblk witches in England, when there was found to 
be so great a resemblance between the Old England de- 
mons and the New, that the most sanguinary proceedings 
were enacted in JMassachusetts, until the very excess of the 
delusion, in 1692, put an end to the melancholy trage- 
dy.* 

Governor Belli ngham died on the 7 th December, 
1672, at the age of 80. He lived to be the only surviv- 
ing patentee named in the charter. As a man, he was 
benevolent and upright; as a Christian, devout and con- 
scientious; and as a magistrate, attached to the interests 
of the people, and resolute in defending them. Hub- 
bard speaks of him, as ^' a very ancient gentleman, 
having spun a long thread of above eighty years, a nota- 
ble hater of bribes, and firm and fixed in any resolution 
he entertained." Mather, following Hubbard, says, that 
"amons: all his virtues he was noted for none more than 
for his notable and perpetual hatred of bribes," and for 
this he would honor him with a Theban statue. Nor 
does the testimony stop here; for, in the Granary burial- 
ground, in Boston, over his tomb is inscribed : 

" V^irtue's f;ist frienfl witliin this tomb doth lif, 
A I'oe to briber, but rlcli in cliarity." 

* An account oftlic Witchcraft. Delusion in Massachusetts, will be given in 
the Memoirs of Lt. Gov. Stoughtoa. and Sir William Phips, in a subsequent 
volume of this work. 

41 



346 RICHARD BELLINGHAM. 

By his will, executed on the 28th November^ a few 
days before his death, he left his large property at Rum- 
ney Marsh, for charitable and pious purposes ; but the 
instrument was drawn in such a manner, that the Gen- 
eral Court set it aside, and made a different disposition 
of the estate. Mrs. Penelope Bellingham, widow of 
Governor B., died at Boston, May 28, 1702. 

Governor Bellingham had several children, of whom 
it appears by his will, made in 1672, that only one sur- 
vived him. Samuel Belhngham was born in England, 
and probably accompanied his father to New England, in 
1634. Having completed his academical studies and 
taken his first degree at Harvard College, in 1 642, he com- 
menced the study of medicine, and repaired to Europe, 
to enjoy those advantages in completing his professional 
studies, which New England did not at that time afford. 
He travelled on the continent, was sometime at Leyden, 
and obtained from that university the degree of Doctor 
of Medicine. It is beheved that he visited New England 
■ afterwards ; but he finally settled in London, in the parish 
of St. Anne, in Westminster, where about 1695, he mar- 
ried Widow Elizabeth Savage, who had been a resident 
of Boston. He lived to an advanced age, but the time 
of his death is unknown. 



347 



VI. JOHN ENDECOTT. 

JoHx Endecott was a native of Dorchester^ in 
Dorsetshire^ England, where he was born in 1588. He 
followed the profession of a chirurgeon in his native 
county, after coming of age ; and becoming attached to 
the puritan interest early in life, he emigrated to this 
country, in September, 1628. He was one of the founders 
of Salem, the ancient Naumkeag, the oldest town in the 
colony of Massachusetts Bay. His was the first successful 
attempt to establish a colony on the Bay : and although 
he was afterwards overshadowed by the lofty character of 
Winthrop, Endecott may be considered the real foun- 
der of Massachusetts. Johnson says, that Endecott, 
who came with the colonists ^^ to govern," was " a fit in- 
strument to begin this wilderness work ; of courage bold, 
undaunted, yet sociable, and of a cheerful spirit, loving 
or austere, as occasion served." He is characterised by 
Hutchinson, as one of the most zealous undertakers, and 
the most rigid in principle amongst the colonists. 

Of the initiatory proceedings in the settlement of the 
second and principal New England colony, an account 
has been given in the preceding pages.* Mr. Endecott 
was one of the six original purchasers of Massachusetts, 
named in the patent granted by the Council of Plymouth, 
19 March, 1628, and one of the three who determined 
to retain their interest in the company, when its original 
design of a commercial enterprise was abandoned, and 
the plan adopted of making the new colony an asylum 

' Sec pp. 235 — 241, of this volume. 



348 JOHN ENDECOTT. 

for the persecuted puritans of England. Two months 
after the patent was obtained^ preparations had been 
made for the embarkation of settlers, at the head of 
whom was Endecott, accompanied by his wife and family, 
'^^ hostages of his fixed attachment to the New World."* 
On the 28th of June, the company of emigrants sailed 
in the ship Abigail, from Weymouth in England, and 
they arrived at Salem on the 8th of September, where 
Endecott, ^^ uniting his own men with those which were 
formerly planted in the Country into one body, they 
made up in all not much above fifti* or sixtie persons."! 
Mr. Endecott, on his departure, was provided with 
instructions, to which the historians of New England 
turn with pride. ^^If any of the Salvages," said they, 
"pretend right of inheritance to all or any part of the 
lands granted in the patent, we pray you endeavour to 
purchase their tytle, that we may avoid the least suspi- 
cion of intrusion."! The government under the patent 
was organized, and at first designed to be continued in En- 
gland, Matthew Cradock§ having been chosen governor 

* Bancroft, i. 341. 

t The Planter's Plea, Lond. 1G30, p. 76. Speaking of Endecott's arrival, 
the same work continues: " his prosperous lourney and safe arrivall of himselfe 
and all his company, and good report he sent backe of the country, gave such en- 
couragement to the worke, that more adventurers joining with the first Vnder- 
takers, and all engaging themselves more deeply for the prosecution of the 
dcsigne, they sent over the next year about three hundred persons more." 

t Hazard, i. 263. 

§ Matthew Cradock, who was governor of the corporation in England, until 
its transfer to Massachusetts in 1629, was an eminent merchant of London, 
more forward in advancing out of his substance than any other of the adventur- 
ers. He never came to this country, though he continued for some years to 
carry on a trade by servants in the colony. He had a small fishing establish- 
ment at Mystick, opposite Winthrop's Ten Hills Farm. Savage refers his death 
to 1614, and a descendant, George Cradock, is mcntluned by Douglas and 
Hutchinson as holding public trusts in the colony. 



JOHN ENDECOTT. 319 

of llic Company. — The design was to constitute a corpo- 
ration resembling the East India Company, willi power 
to setde plantations within the limits of the territory, un- 
der such laws and government as they should see fit to 
impose, with magistrates of their own appointment. 
To the colonists the only privilege allowed, was that of 
choosing two of the thirteen counsellors, who, with the 
governor, were to rule the plantation. Under these re- 
stricdons, Mr. Endecott entered on his brief career as 
ruler of the new plantation. 

To protect themselves against the Indians, a military 
company was organized by the settlers, and Mr. Ende- 
cott was placed in command. Soon afterwards, the dis- 
solute proceedings of the settlers at Merry Mount having 
caused much scandal to the colony. Captain Endecott 
went to Mount Wollaston, and publicly reproved them, 
changed the name of their setdement to Mount Dagon, 
cut down their May-pole, and admonished them with 
threats to change their course of conduct. This per- 
haps was a reprehensible proceeding, but the orgies of 
these people had become so scandalous, that Captain 
Standish of New Plymouth had been ordered to break 
up their establishment altogether.* 

The patent from the Council of Plymouth gave a 
good title to the soil, but no powers of government to the 
colony ; in consequence, when the design of the planta- 
tion was changed, a charter was obtained from Charles I., 
bearing date the 4th March, 1629. The original patent, 
under which Mr. Endecott came to New England, hav- 
ing been surrendered and the government transferred to 
the grantees under the charter, his duties as governor of 

* Prince,! 75-177. 



350 JOHN ENDECOTT. 

the plantation/of course^ ceased, upon Winthrop's arrival 
with the charter, and a commission as governor of the 
colony, in 1630. 

Captain Endecott was chosen an Assistant in 1630, 
and continued in office until 1634; was again elected in 
1637, and remained in the same office until chosen to 
that of deputy governor in 1641. He succeeded Gov- 
ernor Dudley in 1645, as Sergeant Major General, then 
the highest mihtary office in the colony, and continued 
to discharge its duties until 1649. 

The early portion of Mr. Endecott's career, as a 
magistrate and christian, is disfigured by acts of intoler- 
ance and rashness. In forming the first church of the 
puritans at Salem, two articles were agreed upon — first, 
that the Salem church should be independent of the 
church already established at Plymouth, and second, that 
the authority of ordination should not exist in the clergy, 
but should depend upon the free choice of the members 
of the church, who should have a representative of their 
power in the person of the ruhng elder. The new church 
rejected the ceremonies and rites, and virtually disclaimed 
the authority, of the church of England. This proceed- 
ing was offensive to a portion of the settlers, who, how- 
ever they dissented from the arbitrary rule of the English 
bishops, were nevertheless sincerely attached to the ritual 
of the English Church. 

Two of the most influential settlers, John and Samuel 
Browne, the one a lawyer, the other a merchant, both 
men of character and members of the colonial council in 
England, withdrew from the church at Salem, and set 
up a separate society. They had followers. No act of 
theirs could have excited greater uneasiness. The little 



JOHN ENDECOTT. 351 

band of puritans, ulio had just erected tlie standard of 
their foith in the wilderness, suddenly beheld the arm 
of that church w hirh had oppressed them in England, 
stretched out against them in the New Wo^rld. They saw 
no course left, but to crush the fiiction at a blow. The 
persecuted of the Old World now became the persecutors 
of the New. 

Endecott was determined to execute the plan of 
church government w^hich had been adopted, and con- 
sidered himself clothed with sufficient power to enforce 
compliance. "If any prove incorrigible," said the Com- 
pany, in their instructions to Endecott, "ship such per- 
sons home by the Lyon's Whelp."* His admonitions 
to the Brownes had been disregarded, and neither Mr. 
Endecott nor his associates could be satisfied wdth half 
way measures. The heresy must be crushed. And 
they who could not be terrified into silence, says Bentley, 
were not commanded to withdraw, but were seized 
and transported as criminals.! These proceedings cast 
a shade over the reputation of Endecott in England, 
which the friends of the colony finally thought it prudent 
to remove by endeavours of private reparation to the 
parties aggrieved. 

* Hazard, i. 2G3. For all these proceedings of Governor Endecott, he seems 
to have had ample warrant in his instructions, the general tone of which may 
be further understood by what follows : 

"To the end that the Sabbath may be celebrated in a religious manner, we 
appoint that all that iniiabit the plantation, both for the general and particu- 
lar employments, may surcease their labour every Saturday throughout the year 
at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and that they spend the rest of that day in chate- 
chizing and preparing for the Sabbath, as the ministers shall direct. " 

Instructions were also given " to settle some good orders, whereby all per- 
sons, resident upon our plantation, may apply themselves to one calling or other, 
and no idle drone be permitted to live among us." 

t Bentley, in I Mass. Hist. Coll. vi. 24.">. 



352 JOHN ENDECOTT. 

\ 

Roger Williams, the apostle of religions toleration, 
arrived in Salem in 1631, and his inlluence Avas soon 
apparent in the little community. Before his arrival, 
Endecott had embraced the doctrine of veils for the wo- 
men in the church ; and if he worshipped in the beauty 
of holiness, he was determined that human beauty should 
form no part of his pleasure. A uniformity of dress 
might be favorable to uniformity of manners, but though 
encouraged, could not be enforced. The veils might 
produce the best effects on the public solemnities, and be 
liable to no serious objections. Endecott's heart was 
upon the practice, and having the assent of the ministers, 
he did not lack the zeal to enforce the injunction.* 

The settlers of new countries, in addition to other 
obstacles, rarely fail to meet with difficulties of a person- 
al nature among themselves. An incident is recorded 
by the historians, which goes to illustrate the temper of 
Mr. Endecott. In 1631, a quarrel had arisen between 
him and Thomas Dexter, who had settled at Lynn, in 
which the Salem magistrate so far forgot his dignity as 
to strike Mr. Dexter. The offence, of course, was 
grave enough in such a community, to attract general 
notice, and was brought before the court at Boston. En- 
decott, who was detained by accident from the trial, 
wrote Governor Winthrop, as follows: '^I desired the 
rather to have been at court, because I hear I am much 
complained of by goodman Dexter for striking him ; un- 
derstanding since it is not lawful for a justice of peace to 
strike. But if you had seen the manner of his carriage, 
with such daring of me, with his arms akimbo, it would 
have provoked a very patient man. He hath given out, 

* Bcntlcy, in I Mass. Hist. Coll. vi. 246. 



JOHN ENDECOTT. 353 

if I had a purse, he would make me empty it, and if he 
cannot have justice here, he will do wonders in England; 
and if he cannot prevail there, he will try it out with me 
here at blows. If it were lawful for me to try it at 
blows, and he a fit man for me to deal with, you should 
not hear me complain." The court adjudged the mag- 
istrate to have broken the peace, and fined him <£10, 
although Dexter was doubtless the greater bully of the 
two. 

In 1634, Mr. Endecott was chosen one of the board 
of military commissioners for the colony, seven in num- 
ber, who were vested with the extraordinary and sum- 
mary power of levying war, and of arresting, imprison- 
ing, or executing persons deemed to be enemies of the 
state.* 

The zeal of Endecott, warmed by the influence of 
Roger Williams, prompted him, in 1634, to another act 
of imprudence, for which he received the public censure. 
The banner used by the train band at Salem, had the 
cross of Saint George worked upon its folds. In his 
impetuous resolution to put down every remnant of 
what he deemed to be popish or heathenish super- 
stition, he cut the cross from the standard. The people 
deemed the act to be a rash one, and were apprehensive 
the government in England would consider it an insult 
to the national flag. The matter was accordingly brought 
before the general court at Boston, and after due investi- 
gation, they "adjudged him worthy admonition, and to 
be disabled for one year from bearing any public office; 
declining any heavier sentence, because they were per- 
suaded he did it out of tenderness of conscience and 

* See p. 286, of this volume. 

45 



^ 



354 JOHN ENDECOTT. 

not of any evil intent."* The indomitable spirit of the 
Salem magistrate was not daunted by this censure^ and in 
Roger WilliamSj then the beloved minister of Salem^ he 
had a faithful co-operator against heresy and sin in the lit- 
tle world around them. The bold preaching of Williams 
became distasteful to the rulers of the colony, and an 
attempt was made to silence him, before proceeding to the 
act of banishment, which not long after followed. The 
people of Salem defended their preacher, and Endecott 
justified their defence, in terms which were offensive to 
the magistrates and deputies, whereupon they committed 
him. Finding it useless to resist, he finally made the 
acknowledgment required, and was released. f 

From this period, Mr. Endecott seems to have acted 
in full harmony with the other leaders of the colony, 
and to have regained the esteem, which his imprudent 
zeal in the outset had jeoparded. In 1636, he was 
placed in command of an expedition from Massachusetts 
against the Pequot Indians. John Oldham, of Cape 
Ann, had been murdered by a party of the natives, who 
fled to the Pequots, and were protected by them. Con- 
sidering them abettors of the murder, the Massachusetts 
government decided to send a military force under com- 
mand of Endecott, with a commission to offer the Pe- 

* Savage's Winthrop, i, 158. It is a fact worthy of note, that, in the very 
next year, after solemn consultation, only two of the council would consent to 
spread the King's colors even in the fort, on account of the Cross in them. (See 
p. 318, of this volume.) Hence, it has been observed, that Endecott's assent to 
Roger Williams' heresy may have had some influence in subjecting him to the 
censure above mentioned. Felt, than whom no one has more carefully studied 
the character of the first settlers of Massachusetts, in his Annals of Salem, 
says most of the principal men of the colony thought as Endecott did on the 
subject of the cross. " The difference between them was, that he manifested 
his opinion in deed, and they retained theirs in secret." Annals of Salem, 77. 

) Savage's Winthrop, i. 166. 



JOHN ENDECOTT. 355 

quols terms of peace^ on condition of their surrendering 
the murderers and forbearing further acts of hostility, or 
else war. When the military force arrived, the Pequots 
fled where pursuit became impracticable, and little was 
effected by the expedition. Winter was approaching, 
and Capt. Endecott deemed it prudent to return. He did 
not escape censure for the ill success of his expedition. 
The enemy was indeed emboldened by the result — and in 
the following year committed further aggressions, which 
were finally avenged, by the extinction of their tribe 
by the English under the warlike Captain Mason, aided 
by the friendly Narragansetts.* 

In 1644, Mr, Endecott was chosen governor of Mas- 
sachusetts. He was again elected to that office in 1649, 
and also from 1651 to 1653, and from 1655 to 1664, in the 
whole fifteen years — being at the head of the administra- 
tion of the colony for a longer period than any other 
governor under the old charter. 

His administration was of course marked by the en- 
ergy, as well as by the faults, of his character. A stern 
magistrate, fired by an intense zeal against all heresy, he 
was ready to apply the sword of the civil power for its 
extinction. When the enthusiast, Anne Hutchinson, be- 
gan to disturb the churches by her preaching, Endecott 
was found by the side of Dudley and the fiery Hugh 
Peters in opposition to her heresy. The elders and ma- 
gistrates were shocked by the boldness of her teachings, 
and alarmed at the progress of her doctrines among the 
people of Boston. Endecott assumed a high preroga- 
tive against all dissenting sects, and history records that 
as a magistrate he did not bear the sword in vain. iVIrs. 

* See pp. 143 and 302, of this volume. 



356 JOHN ENDECOTT. 

Hutchinsoiij after a formal trial, was banished, and the 
most conspicuous of her adherents, or rather those who 
were opposed to her persecution, were disarmed. Sever- 
al persons at Salem were disgraced, or excommunicated. 
Others, suspected of being friendly to the anabaptists, 
were deprived of personal liberty, or restricted to pre- 
scribed bounds; and in 1644, banishment was decreed 
against the whole sect. The spirit of this law was re- 
tained in the act of 1646, against heresy — and ten years 
after, when the Quakers made their appearance in Mas- 
sachusetts, an act of banishment was passed upon the 
entire sect, with the penalty of death, if disregarded. 

The rumor of the coming of the Quakers, filled the 
colonists with alarm. A fast was ordered on account of 
it in June, 1656. In October, the hated sect had made 
their appearance. The Court of Assistants thereupon 
pass an order, forbidding masters of vessels bringing them 
over, under a penalty of <£100. They next order that 
if any Quaker comes into Massachusetts, he shall be con- 
fined, whipped, kept at work, and not suffered to speak. 
Any person bringing a Quaker book into the colony, was 
to be fined £5 for every book ; any one defending their 
doctrines, 40*. for the first offence, £4 for the second, 
and if persisting, then to be imprisoned and banished. 

1657. October. The Court order a fine for every 
hour's entertainment or concealment of a Quaker, of 
40s. They further order that if any male of that sect 
return after banishment, he shall have one of his ears 
cut off"; and for a second return, shall have the other ear 
cut off", and be kept at the house of correction. Any 
female so doing, to be whipped, and kept at the house 
of correction. If any of either sex come back a third 



JOHN ENDECOTT. 357 

time^ they were to have their tongues bored through with 
a hot iron. And any colonists siding with them were to 
be treated with equal severity. 

1658. May. The Court order that any person at- 
tending a Quaker meeting shall pay lOs., and £5 for 
speaking where it may be held. In October of this year, 
the Quakers increasing, notwithstanding their persecu- 
tions, the Court order them to be banished on pain of 
death. 

1661. May. The Court order that Quakers w^hen 
discovered, shall be made bare from the middle upwards, 
tied to a cart, and whipped through the town to the 
boundary of the colony, and if returning a second time, 
to be similarly punished and branded on the shoulder, if 
a third time, to be banished on pain of death. On the 
27th November, 1661, the General Court assembled to 
consider the order of the King, forbidding the further 
persecution of the Quakers, and voted to comply with 
the order. 

Sanguinary as these laws were, they were executed 
in many cases, and in all the forms enumerated, except- 
ing those of boring the tongue and cutting off the ears. 
Heavy fines were imposed, and imprisonment and stripes, 
chains and the dungeon, and even death were inflicted. 
In all these rigorous measures. Governor Endecott con- 
curred, with the hearty zeal of an honest but misguided 
man. 

In 1659, two men and one woman, (Quakers,*) were 
tried before the general court of Massachusetts, and sen- 
tenced to death. The two men were executed, but the 

* Their names were WiUiam Robinson, Marraaduke Stephenson, and Mary 
Dyer. Another, William Leddra, was executed, in March, 1G60. 



358 JOHN ENDECOTT. 

woman was reprievedj on condition of her departure 
from the jurisdiction in forty-eight hours; and if she re- 
turned, to suffer the sentence. She was carried, how- 
ever, to the gallows, and stood with a rope about her neck 
until the others were executed. " The blood of the 
martyrs is the seed of the church" — and many of these 
enthusiastic people actually courted persecution. The 
infatuated woman above mentioned returned, and was 
executed in 1660. Charles II. was restored in 1660, 
and in the following year issued a mandamus forbidding 
the further persecution of the Quakers.* The bloody 
laws were repealed, and the dawn of that glorious tolera- 
tion appeared, which has since redeemed and elevated 
the character of the country. 

Dr. Robertson styles Governor Endecott ^^ a deep en- 
thusiast," and it is certain that his energetic mind was 
not unfrequently directed to the rigorous enforcement of 
frivolous observances. Well might the historian Hutcli- 

* The Mandamus of King Charles is dated at Whitehall, the 9th day of 
September, 1661, and is directed "To our trusty and well-beloved John Ende- 
cott, esquire, and to all and every other the governor or governors of our plan- 
tations of Nevr-England, and of all the colonies thereunto belonging, that now 
are or hereafter shall be, and to all and every the ministers and officers of our 
plantations and colonies whatsoever within the continent of New-England." 
There is a copy of it in Hazard's Collections, ii. 595, in Sewell's History of the 
Quakers, i. 475, and in the Journal of George Fox, pp. 326, 327. Fox gives 
the following account of its being presented to the governor. It was brought 
over in 16G1, by Samuel Shattock, who had been banished by the government 
ot Massaciiasetts for being a Quaker. He and Ralph Goldsmith, the com- 
mander of the ship in which they came, " went through the town [of Boston] 
to the governor's, John Endecott's door, and knocked. He sent out a man to 
know their business. They sent him word their business was from the king of 
England, and they would deliver their message to none but the governor him- 
self. Thereupon they were admitted in, and the governor came to them ; and 
having received the deputation and the Mandamus, he put off his hat and looked 
upon them. Then going out, he bid the friends follow. He went to the deputy 
governor, and after a short consultation, came out to the friends, and said ' We 
shall obey his majesty's commands.' " George Fox, Journal, folio p. 326. 



JOHN E^7DEC0TT. 359 

inson remark^ tliat the scrupulosity of the i2;ood people 
of the colony must have been at its height, when Gov- 
ernor Endecott, the most rigid of any of the magistrates^ 
joined in an association against the custom of wearing 
long hair.* 

It is observed by Mather, in the Magnalia, that after 
the death of Mr. Dudley, the notice and respect of the 
colony fell chieily on Mr. Endecott. He was at the head 

* Harvard College Records, under date of 3d mo. 10th day, 1G49, contain 
the following paper, drawn up by the governor and magistrates against the cus- 
tom of wearing long hair : 

" Forasmuch as the wearing of long hair, after the manner of Ruffians 
and Barbarous Indians, has begun to invade New England, contrary to the rule 
of God's word, which says it is a shaine to wear long hair, as also the com- 
mendable custom generally of all the godly of our nation, uniil within these 
few years : 

" We the magistrates, who have subscribed this paper, (for the shewing of 
our own innocency in this behalf,) do declare and manifest our dislike and de- 
testation against the wearing of such long hair, as against a thing uncivil and 
.unmanly, whereby men doe deforme themselves, and offend sober and modest 
men, and doe corrupt good manners. We doe therefore earnestly entreat all 
the elders of the jurisdiction (as often as they shall see cause) to manifest their 
zeal against it in their public administrations, and to take care that the mem- 
bers of their respective churches be not defiled therewith, that so such as shall 
prove obstinate and will not reform themselves, may have God and man to 
witness against them. The third month, fOth day, 1649. 

Jo. Ekdecott, governor. William Hibbins, 

Tho. Dudley, dep. gov. Thomas Flint, 

Rich. Bellingham, Rob. Bkidges, 

Richard Saltonstall, Simon Bkadstreet." 

Increase Nowell, 
A like absurdity in former days pricked the consciences of prelates, kings 
and courtiers. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, pronounced an anathema 
of excommunication on all who wore long hair. Serlo, a Norman bishop, ac- 
quired great honor by a sermon which he preached before Henry I. in 1104, 
against long curled hair, with which the king and his courtiers were so much 
affected, that they consented to resign their flowing ringlets, whereupon the 
prudent prelate, determining to give them no time to change their minds, 
pulled a pair of shears out of his sleeve, and performed the operation with his 
own hand. A canon is still extant, of the date of 1096, importing that such as 
wore long hair should be excluded from the chnrch whilst living, or being 
prayed for when dead. Now, the very curates rejoice in ringlets and macas- 
sar. — Black. Edin. Masr. Ivi. 460. 



360 JOHN ENDECOTT. 

of the colony^ during the difficult and critical period of 
the great political dissensions and civil wars in Eng- 
land. Mr. Endecott's bias in that controversy was ap- 
parentj and corresponded with that of the country, but 
the public proceedings were temperate and wise. On 
the restoration of Charles II., the English statesmen 
could not fail to perceive that the spirit of liberty was 
every where prevalent in the colonies. The Earl of 
Clarendon, in framing his plan for their government by 
commissioners, remarked, that ^^ they were already har- 
dened into republics." In 1664, the royal commission 
was established, over-riding the existing charters, and 
in April of the following year, they began to execute 
their trust in Massachusetts. Governor Endecott was at 
this time in the chair, and when the commissioners pro- 
ceeded to sit in judgment upon the governor and gen- 
eral court of the colony, the spirit of the puritans was 
kindled, and the general court " published by sound of 
trumpet their disapprobation of this proceeding, and pro- 
hibited every one from abetting a conduct so inconsist- 
ent with their duty to their God, and allegiance to the 
King." The crest-fallen commissioners departed, threat- 
ening against the authorities of Massachusetts " the pun- 
ishment which many in England concerned in the late 
rebelHon had met with." Thus early appeared in the 
fathers of Massachusetts the unyielding spirit of liberty, 
which a century afterwards was found to be invincible 
in their descendants. The famous stamp act was passed 
just a century after this abortive essay of the royal com- 
missioners. 

The firmness of Governor Endecott in these pro- 
ceedings was noted in England, and instructions were 



JOHN ENDECOTT. 361 

given to the end tliat another person more acceptable to 
the Kinsr should be chosen o:overnor at the next election. 
Governor Endecott died, however, before the effect of 
this recommendation could be ascertained. But as his 
integrity and firmness in the great agitations through 
which they had already passed, had gained the confi- 
dence of the people, there can be no doubt that the royal 
intimation to his prejudice would have been altogether 
disregarded. 

Governor Endecott, before his election to that office, 
removed from Salem to Boston, where he died in office 
on the 15th March, 1665, in the 77th year of his age. 
His will, dated at Boston, 2d May, 1659, mentions the 
house he lived in, which was on the lot formerly the re- 
sidence of Gardiner Greene. The house, a part of 
which was lately standing at the corner of Court and 
Church streets in Salem, occupied by Governor Ende- 
cott during his residence there, was first erected by the 
Dorchester company at Cape Ann, and removed from 
thence to Salem in 1628, by Walter Knight and others, 
for the Governor's use. The Rev. John Sparhawk oc- 
cupied this house in 1736, and Timothy Orne, Sen., 
afterwards. It was afterwards known as the " Ship 
Tavern." Governor Endecott w-as a larere landholder in 
different parts of the country. The first grant ever 
made in the interior of New Hampshire, was of 500 
acres selected for Governor Endecott of the finest inter- 
val land on the Merrimack, in Concord. It was granted 
in 1657, and is now known as the Endecott, or Sewall 
farm. The farm cultivated by Governor Endecott near 
Salem, is said to remain in possession of a descendant. 
There is a good portrait of Endecott in one of the apart- 
46 



86!? JOHN ENDECOTT. 

ments of the State House at Boston ; and another, said to 
be an original, in possession of W. P. Endicott, Esq., of 
Salem.* 

Governor Endecott has not unfrequently been repre- 
sented as rude and uncultivated, inexperienced in the 
passions of men, and untouched by any of the finer feel- 
ings and sympathies of our nature. Stern, inflexible, 
and uncompromising, particularly towards those who 
differed from him in religious matters ; his great firm- 
ness and decision have often been construed into grovel- 
ling wilfulness and unbending obstinacy. That he was 
a man of good intellectual endowments, and mental cul- 
ture, and that he possessed a fearless and independent 
spirit, which well fitted him for the various duties he 
was called upon to perform, is very certain. But his 
highest claim to distinction rests upon the fact that he 
was a successful leader of the Pilgrims, and his name is 
so closely associated with the first settlement of the coun- 
try, and with whose early history his own is so closely 
interwoven, that the learned and Rev. Dr. Bentley, of 
Salem, in a letter to the elder Adams, says, "above all 
others, he deserves the name of the Father of New 
England." 

The principal charge against Governor Endecott is 
his want of liberality in religious matters. "But where 
was liberality to be found in the seventeenth century .'' 
Governor Endecott's integrity and firmness in all the po- 
litical questions which were agitated in his day with the 
mother country, merited the confidence and gratitude of 
his own. His was no temporizing policy. He was a 

•This gentleman is also said to possess the small sword used by Governor 
Endecott, and some of his Manuscripts. 



JOHN ENDECOTT. 363 

faithful sentinel upon the watch-towers of his country's 
interests, ever jealous of her rights, and ever zealous ibr 
her welfare. He fultilled all the trusts committed to his 
care with an honesty of purpose, and a fidelity that 
knew no fear ; having Ibr his reward, far above all earthly 
distinctions, the approval of his own conscience in a life 
well and usefully spent." 

From Prince, we learn that Governor Endecott 
brought a wife from England, of whose death no ac- 
count is given. Her name was Anna Gover. His 
second wife was- Elizabeth Gibson, whom he married 
18th August, 1630. She survived her husband.* Gov- 
ernor Endecott had two sons — 

John, the eldest, was born about the year 1632, re- 
moved with his father to Boston in 1644, was married, 
Nov. 9, 1653, to Elizabeth, daughter of Jeremy Hou- 
chin, of Boston, admitted freeman in 1665, and died in 
1667, leaving no children. 

Zerubabel, the second son, was born in 1635, was a 
physician, and lived in Salem ; and from him have de- 
scended all the Endecotts who have lived in Salem and 
its immediate vicinity. He was father of six sons and 

seven daughters. Plis first wife was Mary , the 

mother of most, if not all, of his children. His second 
wife was Elizabeth, widow of Rev. Antipas Newman, 
of Wenham, and daughter of Governor John Winthrop, 
of Connecticut, to whom he was married some time sub- 
sequent to the year 1672. He was admitted a freeman 
in 1665, and died March 27, 1684. The names of his 

* The property of Governor Endectt's widow not being sufficient for her 
support, the general court, in 1671, granted her an annuity of £30 during her 
widowhood. This act was an indication of the public respect both for her and 
her deceased husband. Felt's Annals of Salem, 239. 



364 JOHN ENDECOTT. 

children^ which are here mentioned in the order of their 
births, were Ehzabeth, Ehzabeth, Zerubabel, John, 
Samuel, Zeriibabel, Benjamin, Joseph, Mary, Sarah, 
(who married Nathaniel Gilbert of Boston,) Elizabeth, 
Hannah and Mehitable. The three first died in infancy, 
and the others survived their father. By his will, dated 
Nov. 23, 1683, he bequeathed to his two eldest surviv- 
ing sons, John and Samuel, the old homestead of his 
father in Salem, (now Danvers,) called the "Orchard." 
To Zerubabel, Benjamin and Joseph, he left a tract of 
land of 555 acres, granted by the General Court to the 
Governor, and bequeathed by the Governor to him, on 
the Ipswich river in Topsfield, (now Boxford,) to be 
equally divided between them, with a proviso that if 
either died without heirs, his part was to revert to the 
survivors. The five daughters inherited an island of 
about two acres near Marblehead, called Gotta Island, 
and other legacies. 

John, eldest son of Zerubabel, and grandson of the 
Governor, was born about 1662; was, like his father, a 
physician, and some time in London, England, complet- 
ing his education. He married Ann , had one 

son, Robert Edwards, who died without issue, and one 
daughter, Anna, who married her cousin Samuel, Dec. 
20, 1711. He died at Salem, probably on the "Or- 
chard" farm, in May, 1700. Felt, in his Annals of Salem, 
says he was " active, useftd and respected." 

Samuel, second son of Zerubabel, was born about the 
year 1664, lived at the " Orchard " in Salem, married 

Hannah , and had two sons, John and Samuel. 

Until within a few years, the " Orchard farm " has been 
cultivated by, and has been the residence of, some one 



JOHN ENDECOTT. S65 

of the descendants oi" Samuel^ many of whom have led 
peaceful and quiet lives, cultivating the soil for a liveli- 
hood, without entering public life, any further than oc- 
casionally representing the town in which they resided, 
either in the legislature or in municipal trusts; while 
some of the fifth and many of the sixth generation turned 
their attention to commerce, and w-ere successful mer- 
chants, fulfilling all their obligations with fidelity. There 
are one or two families living in Worcester county, Mas- 
sachusetts, but Salem and vicinity has been, and still is, 
their '• home.'' Some have been sea captains, generally 
in the China trade, and having " had enough of the sea," 
are now filling responsible and honorable stations in 
society. 

Zeriibabel, third son of Zerubabel, was born Feb. 14, 

1664, married Grace , by whom he had one son, 

named Zerubabel, and five daughters, Grace, Mehita- 
ble, Elizabeth, Phebe and Hannah. In 1715, he was 
living on his inheritance in Topsfield, as a farmer, where 
he died. The son Zerubabel dying w^ithout heirs, sub- 
sequently to the father, the five sisters finally possessed 
the family estate. 

Benjamin, fourth son of Zerubabel, was born in 
1667, and in 1715 w^as living on the Topsfield farm as a 
farmer, where he died in 1735, without heirs. 

Joseph, fifth son of Zerubabel, was born at Salem 
(the birthplace of all his father's children) in 1669, mar- 
ried Hannah , and left at his death, according to 

his will, recorded in the office of the Secretary of State, 
at Trenton, New Jersey, two sons, John and Joseph, and 
two daughters, Ann Gillam, and Elizabeth Delavane. 
A grandson, Joseph Bishop, is also mentioned. In a 



366 JOHN ENDECOTT. 

deed executed by him, and recorded in what is now 
Bjxford, Massachusetts, he styles himsell" "Joseph En- 
dec'ott, of North Hampton, county of BurHngton, in West 
Jersey, in the government of New York, yeoman." He 
died in Miy, 1747, at North Hampton. 

Benjamin, son of John, and grandson of Joseph En- 
decott, of North Hampton, was a soldier of the Revolu- 
tion. John, his son, was lately living, at an advanced 
age, in Port Republic, New Jersey, where others of the 
family reside. 

About the year 1700, there were living in Boston 
three brothers, John, William and Gilbert Endecott, the 
elder of which appears to have been a man of some note, 
if owning lands and houses, and holding the office of 
church warden in King's Chapel would make him so. 
Where these brothers were born, or whence they came 
to Boston, is uncertain. John, the eldest, was father of 
about ten children, none of which survived him; Wil- 
liam, of about as many more, of which no account can 
be given, and Gilbert, of two only, whose descendants 
are numerous in Noi-folk county, Massachusetts, where 
he died, Oct. 18, 1716. The families of that name in 
Boston, are supposed to be derived from Governor En- 
decott, and those residing in New York are descended 
from Gilbert, of Boston. 

The Governor spelt his name Endecott, and this mode 
of spelling was retained as late as 1724, as the records 
show. Since that time, it has been variously written, 
Endicott, Tndecott, and Endicot, and few names have suf- 
fered more from distortion in spelling than this. 



367 



VII. JOHN LEVERETT. 

John Leverett was a native of England, and came 
over with his father, Elder Thomas Leverett, in compa- 
ny with the Rev. John Cotton and others, in 1633. 
Thomas Leverett lived at Boston, in Lincolnshire, Eng- 
land, where all his children, sixteen in number, were 
born and baptized, the youngest of which was baptized 
12th April, 1632. Mr. Leverett, being disposed to aid 
the emigration of settlers to Massachusetts, advanced fifty 
pounds sterling, for the purpose of transporting poor 
families, building churches and fortifications, maintaining 
ministers, and other public charges of the plantation.* 
He came over in 1633, in company with the Rev. Mr. 
Cotton and others, became a member of the Boston 
church in October of that year, at which time his wife 
Anne also joined, and on the 5th November following, 
was admitted to the freeman's oath. Dr. Cotton Mather 
ascribes to the vigilance and discretion of Mr. Leverett, 
while in England, the defeat of many designs to molest 
his friend Mr. Cotton for non-conformity; and says, that 
"quickly after Mr. Cotton's ordination in Boston, the 
church called and settled Mr. Leverett as their ruling 
elder, which office he sustained till his death." 

* The general court of Massachusetts, 19 Oct. 16o'2, acknowledged the obli- 
gations of the colony to Elder Leverett, by the f)llowing vote : " Whereas the 
lather of Captain John Leverett, deceased, was an adventurer with the first into 
these parts, by adventuring money for the forwarding the plantation, who never 
had any allowance of land or otherwise for the same ; This Court doth hereby 
grant to Capt. John Leverett, his son, all those small Islands lying within the 
Bay between Allerton's Point, and Nebenot, not heretofore granted." Mass. 
Colony Records. 



368 JOHN LEVERETT. 

John Leverett was born in July, 1616, and, notwith- 
standing the numerous family of his father, is said to 
have been his only son and heir at the time of Elder 
Leverett's decease.* He was admitted to the Boston 
church, 14th July, 1639, and made a freeman in 1640. 
Soon after his establishment in Boston, he engaged in 
extensive business as a merchant, and was concerned in 
hazardous commercial adventures with Edward Gibbons, 
by which he impaired his fortune. He also became a 
distinguished military officer, and in 1663, was chosen 
major general of the colony, and again in 1666. He was 
an active member of the Ancient and Honorable Artil- 
lery Company of Boston for more than thirty-two years; 
and, besides other offices in the company, was commander 
in 1652, 1663, and 1670. 

Mr. Leverett spent a considerable portion of his life 
in the service of the colony. In 1642, he was sent with 
Edward Hutchinson, on an embassy to Miantonomoh, the 
sachem of the Narragansetts, the object of which was to 
ascertain the truth of the current rumors, that the In- 
dians all over the country had combined to cut off the 
English settlements. It was a period of great alarm. A 
constant watch was kept in the several plantations from 
sunset to sunrise, and places of retreat provided for the 
women and children in case of attack. The Indians 
within the colony were disarmed ; but after all, there 
seems to have been no sufficient grounds for the general 
alarm. Mr. Leverett informed the sachem of the rea- 
sons of his coming, and that the governor required of 
him an explanation. 

* Sec Appendix to Waldo's Defence of the Title of John Leverett to the 
Muscongus Lands, &c., folio, 1736, p. 41. 



JOHN LEVERETT. 369 

His reception by the great chief, is thus described by 
Winthrop : ^*^Miantonomoh carried them apart into the 
woods, taking only one of his chief men with him, and 
gave them very rational answers to all their propositions. 
He visited Boston according to his promise. Being cal- 
led in, and mutual salutations passed, he was set down 
at the lower end of the table over against the governor, 
and had only two or three of his counsellors, and two or 
three of;Our neighboring Indians, such as he desired, but 
would nbt speak of any business at any time, before some 
of his counsellors were present, that they might bear 
witness^with him at his return home of all his sayings. 

^"^In ill his answers, he was very deliberate, and showed 
good understanding in the principles of justice and equity 
and ingenuity withal. He demanded to have his accu- 
sers produced. The English answered, the accusers 
were not in their power; that they did not intend to 
give any credit to their charges, until they had informed 
him of them, and given him an opportunity to deny them. 
He then asked, why they disarmed their Indians, if they 
had not credited these charges.'' They answered, they 
had done it for their own security, some of the Indians 
at Saco having robbed some of the whites; and with this 
answer he was satisfied. He gave many reasons why 
they should hold him free of any such conspiracy, al- 
ledging it to be a fabrication of his enemy, Uncas. Pie 
said that, being innocent, he trusted to the justice of the 
English, and that he would come to them any time they 
requested, if they would only send him some Indians 
he liked. The greater part of two days were spent in 
making arrangements, and all things were accommodated. 
Only some dilficulty we had to bring him to desert the 
47 



370 JOHN LEVERETT. 

Nyanticks, if we had just cause of war with them. They 
were, he said, his own flesh, being allied by continual 
intermarriages. But at last he agreed, if he could not 
bring them to make satisfaction, he would leave them to 
the English. When we should go to dinner, there was 
a table provided for the Indians to dine by themselves, 
and Miantonomoh was left to sit with them. This he 
was discontented at, and would eat nothing until the gov- 
ernor sent meat for him from his ow^n table. When he 
departed, we gave him and his counsellors, coats and to- 
bacco, and when he came to take leave of the governor, 
and such of the magistrates as were present, he returned 
and gave his hand to the governor, saying that was for 
the rest of the magistrates who were absent."* 

Mr. Leverett spent some time in England, in 1644-5, 
and while there, was appointed a captain in Rainsborrow's 
regiment, in the service of parliament, but soon after re- 
turned to Massachusetts. He was first chosen represen- 
tative from Boston, in 1651, and during a portion of the 
year was Speaker of the House. He was re-elected in 
1652 and '3, and again in 1663, '4 and '5. 

In July, 1652, Mr. Leverett was one of the commis- 
sioners appointed to visit the settlements in Maine, and 
declare them to be under the jurisdiction of Massachu- 
setts. Soon after, a county called Yorkshire was estab- 
lished in Maine, and sent deputies to the general court 
at Boston. 

In 1653, the public mind having become impressed 
with the idea that a plot had been concerted by the Dutch 
Governor Stuy vesant and the Indians, for the destruction 
of the English colonies, Mr. Leverett was appointed one 

* Savage's Winthrop, ii. 81. 



JOHN LEVERETT. 371 

of the commissioners of Massachusetts, to the Dutch gov- 
ernment of New York, and was made commander of the 
forces contemplated to be raised in case of war. In 1654, 
he had a military command under General Sedgwick, in 
expelling the French from Penobscot, an enterprise in 
which they succeeded with very little difficulty.* 

In 1655, Mr. Leverett again went to England, and 
was employed in the public service there for some time 
until his return in 1662. Immediately after his return 
he was re-elected to the assembly of the colony, and was 
chosen speaker in 1663 and in 1664. He went with 
Lusher and Danforth, in 1665, to Portsmouth and Dover, 
as one of the commissioners to enquire into the distur- 
bances there, which had been created by a faction head- 
ed by one Abraham Corbett, inimical to the government 
of Massachusetts. Corbett was in the end arrested, tak- 
en to Boston, and fined and otherwise punished for sedi- 
tious behavior. t 

He was one of the four persons, in 1664, to whom 
the patent or first charter was delivered by the general 
court, to be kept safe and secret, together with a dupli- 
cate, which they were directed to dispose of as might 
be most safe for the country. Governor Bellingham, 
Thomas Clark, and Edward Johnson were the others. | 

In 1665, Mr. Leverett was chosen an Assistant, and 
continued in that office until 1670. In 1671 and 1672, 
he was elected deputy governor. 

At the election in 1673, he was chosen governor to 
succeed Mr. Bellingham, and was annually re-elected 
without opposition until his death, in 1679. 

* All the country from the Penobscot to Port Roj'al was conquered with very 
little resistance. Hutchinson's Colony Mass. Bay, 183. 
t Farmer's Belknap, 60. ♦ See p. 341, of this volume. 



372 JOHN LEVERETT. 

As has already been stated, the authority of Massa- 
chusetts had been extended over the settlements in Maine, 
and Governor Leverett had visited that territory in 1652, 
and several times afterwards, to arrange the terms of sub- 
mission. The inhabitants in some cases resisted the 
claim of Massachusetts, regarding it as a usurpation ;* and 
to put an end to the troublesome controversy, the gov- 
ernment of Massachusetts, in 1677, purchased of Gorges 
the province of Maine for the sum of .£1,250 sterling. f 
In February, 1680, the General Court of Massachusetts 
assumed the charter granted to Gorges, under their right 
of purchase, and proceeded to frame a civil administra- 
tion for the province. The delay of nearly three years 
after the purchase to assume the patent of Gorges, may 
be accounted for from the disagreeing opinions as to the 
best mode of governing the newly acquired territory, and 
from the known hostility of the King to the purchase by 
Massachusetts. Charles II. had intended, with the pro- 
vinces of Maine and New Hampshire, to make provision 
for his son, the Duke of Monmouth, and had been for 
some time in treaty with the proprietor of Maine, but 
was outwitted by the agents of Massachusetts. He was 
so deeply aflronted when he heard of the transfer, that 
he reprimanded the agents for their disloyal interference, 
and required them to assign their purchase to the crown, 
upon payment of the sum they had given. This they 
refused to do, and Massachusetts, with the usual resolute 
steadfastness which actuated her people whenever the 
royal prerogative bore hard upon them, determined to 
make the most of her purchase. 

* See Folsom, Hist. Saco and Biddeford, pp. 84 — DO. 
t Hutchinson's Hist. Col. Mass. Bay, 312. 



JOHN LEVERETT. 373 

In 1678, Edwaril Randolph, wlio had been appointed 
collector ol" Boston, came over, bringing a commission, 
empowering certain persons to administer an oath (o the 
governor that he would faithfully execute the Jioyal 
Acts of Trade. The colony were determined to evade 
these acts, and Governor Leverett refused to take the 
oath required. The people considered the navigation 
acts as an invasion of their rights, as they were not repre- 
sented in parliament; and the controversy ended only 
with the subversion of their charter. 

Governor Leverett is described by Cotton Mather, as 
"one to whom the affections of the freemen were signal- 
ised his quick advances through the lesser stages of 
honor and office, unto the highest in the country ; and 
one whose courage had been as much recommended by 
martial actions abroad in his younger years, as his wis- 
dom and justice were now at home in his elder."* 

He received the order of knighthood from Charles II. 
in 1676 ; but he suppressed the title, or knowledge of it, 
during his life, probably on account of his republican 
employments, and the genius of the colonial government. 
He was in England at the time of the restoration, attend- 
ing to the interests of the colony, which brought the 
King acquainted with his talents and influence, and led 
to the bestowal of subsequent honors. 

"The Governor under the old charter," says Hutch- 
inson, "although he carried great port, yet his share in 
the administration was little more than any one of the 
Assistants. The weighty affairs of the war, and the 
agency, during his administration, conducted with pru- 
dence and steadiness, caused him to be greatly respect- 

. * Magnalia, b. 2. c. 5. 



374 JOHN LEVERETT. 

ed."* ^^ Great military talents/' says Savage, " fitted him 
for the place of sergeant-major-generalj several years, 
and in the higher station of governor, in the most peril- 
ous period Massachusetts ever knew, Philip's war, they 
were fully exerted." In this great struggle, Massachu- 
setts furnished her full proportion of men and means; 
and many of her bravest sons fell, before the Indians were 
conquered. The command of the forces raised by the 
United Colonies devolved upon General Winslow, the 
governor of New Plymouth, and a summary of the events 
of that sanguinary war will be found in the memoir of 
Josias Winslow. I 

Governor Leverett died on 16th March, 1679. His 
funeral was made a pageant, not unlike that of royalty in 
England. § 

The disease of which Governor Leverett died was 
the gravel, as appears by Mather, and also an interleaved 

* The general court of Massachusetts, 7th May, 1662, " Ordered, that Ma- 
jor General John Leverett have granted to him 500 acres of land, referring to 
his services in the country, both in England and here; which 500 acres shall 
be laid out to him together, with 500 more, formerly granted to him in refer- 
ence to his father's adventure of the sum of £50 put into the public stock, in 
consideration whereof, Brewster's Islands were formerly granted to the said 
Major Jolin Leverett, but since adjudged by this court to belong to the town of 
Hull, whereupon the court granted the 500 acres last mentioned." Mass. Col. 
Records. 

1 The first regular organization of militia in the country, was in 1644, when 
great exertions were made to render the militia efficient, and the eniulation of 
the people was excited to provide for emergencies that might happen. All males 
were enrolled at sixteen — none being exempt, except" timorous pr.rsons," and 
there were but few who would permit themselves to be thus classed The sol- 
diers were required to do duty eight days in a year under a penalty of 5s. a 
day — and a day's duty was the whole day spent in laborious drill, not a few 
hours of showy parade. The general court labored to avoid all high titles, 
and therefore ordered one general officer for the colony, whose title was Ser- 
geant Major General, to be chosen annually, 

t See pp. 179—192, of this volume. 

§ See Whitman's Hist. Anc. and Hon. Art., p. 95. 



JOHN LEVERETT. 375 

Almanack of 1679. His picture, in the military costume 
of that day, his sword, collar, and gloves, &c., are pre- 
served in the Essex Historical Rooms, at Salem. He 
wore long hair, but is the first colonial governor painted 
without a long beard. He is said to have laid it aside in 
Cromwell's court. 

Governor Leverett was married, in 1639, to Hannah 
Hudson, daughter of Ralph Hudson, deceased, who by 
his will had bequeathed to this daughter "iJlOO upon 
her marriage, and after his and his wife's decease, his 
new house in Boston with the yard adjoining, which then 
stood close to the market, on the south of the old Town 
House, and alsj his great lot of forty-six acres at Pullen 
Point." To match this respectable endowment. Elder 
Leverett at the same time settled upon his son various 
tracts of land and other property, and upon the decease 
'of himself and wife, " his dwelling house in Boston, with 
the houses and gardens adjoining, and a hundred acres 
of land at Muddy River." 

The time of the death of the first w^ife of Governor 
Leverett is uncertain. The death of his second wife, 
Sarah, who survived him twenty-five years, is mentioned 
as having occurred at Boston, 2d January, 1705, when 
she was at the age of 74. Mary, daughter of Governor 
Leverett, married Paul Dudley, son of the first Governor 
Dudley. He died in 1681, at the age of 31. 

Hudson Leverett, only son of Governor Leverett, was 
born in 1640. Hutchinson says, he did not support the 
reputation of his father ; but John Leverett, his son, in 
the presidency of Harvard College, gave a character to 
that institution which it had never before attained. "* He 

* Savage's Wintlirop, ii. 245. 



376 JOHN LEVERETT. 

graduated in 1680, was afterwards a tutor, became a mem- 
ber of the legislature, speaker of the assembly, counsellor, 
judge of the superior court, and of the court of probate. 
He was one of the founders of Brattle street church in 
Boston. In 1708, he was chosen President of Harvard 
College, in which station he continued until his death, 
which was sudden, 3d May, 1724. He was endowed 
with great powers of mind, and was conspicuous for his 
learning. His talents were eminently practical. He 
knew better than most men what course to shape in diffi- 
cult times, and how political and religious factions were 
to be managed or controlled. To these characteristics 
the College owed much of the prosperity it enjoyed at 
that period ; and these conferred the reputation for suc- 
cess, which has ever since rested upon his administration. 
In all his official relations, his industry, vigor, and fideli- 
ty were conspicuous and exemplary. Flynt's Funeral 
Oration ascribes to him Aristotle's words to Plato — ^'^Hic 
jacet homo, quern nan licet, nan decet, impiis vel ignoran- 
tibus laudare.^' His literary merits procured him honors 
from abroad, particularly a membership in the Royal So- 
ciety of London.* 

* Quincy's Hist, of Harvard University, i. 323. Whitman's Hist. Anc. and 
Hon. Art. Co. 249. 



37' 



VIII. SIMON BIIADSTREET. 

Simon Bradstreet was a native of Horbling, a 
small village near Folkingham, in Lincolnshire, England, 
where he was born in March, 1603. His father, born 
of a wealthy family in Suffolk, was one of the first fel- 
lows of Emanuel College, and highly esteemed by per- 
sons distinguished for learning. In the year 1603, he 
appears to have been minister at Horbling, in Lincoln- 
shire, but was always a nonconformist to the church of 
England. He was afterwards preacher to the English 
congregation at Middleburg, where he was most proba- 
bly driven by the severity of persecution. He was liv- 
ing about the year 1630. The first planters of New 
England had the highest respect for him, and used to 
style him " The venerable Mordecai of his country."* 

The son was entered at the grammar school, where, 
after spending some time, he was taken into the family 
of the Earl of Lincoln, in which he remained about eight 
years, under the direction of Thomas Dudley, holding 
several offices at different periods in the household of 
the Earl. His capacity, and the desire which his father 
expressed to give his son an education, induced Dr. 
Preston, an intimate friend of the elder Bradstreet, to 
interest himself in behalf of the son. He was thereupon 
entered at Emanuel College, Cambridge, in the capacity 
of governor to the young Lord Rich, son of the Earl of 
Warwick. This young nobleman, however, did not 
come to the university ; and a brother of the Earl of 

* Brooke's Lives of the Puritans, iii. 519. 

48 



37S SIMON BRADSTREET. 

Lincoln^ of rather idle and dissipated habits, being then 
in collegej and claiming too much of the time and atten- 
tion of Bradstreet, he left the institution after about a 
year, and returned to the Earl of Lincoln. Mr. Dudley 
being about to remove to New England, his post of stew- 
ard in the household of the Earl was conferred on Brad- 
street. He was afterwards stew^ard to the aged Coun- 
tess of Warwick, and here became acquainted with Anne, 
daughter of Thomas Dudley, whom he married, in 1628. 
This connection induced him to join the company of 
Winthrop, Dudley, Saltonstall, Endecott, and others, 
who were then about to embark for New England. In 
March, 1630, he became associated with the company 
of colonists ; and, embarking with his family, arrived at 
Salem in June following. He was at the first court held 
at Charlestown, 23d August, 1630, and was there elected 
secretary of the colony, and remained in office until 
1644. He is named as the seventh member who joined 
in forming the first congregational church of Charles- 
town and Boston. 

In the spring of 1631, Mr. Bradstreet removed to 
Cambridge, and was one of the earliest settlers of that 
town. He resided, with Dudley, Saltonstall, and others, 
for a time, at Ipswich, between 1635 and 1644, and af- 
terwards removed to Andover, where he became one of 
the first planters of that town, in 1648. 

Among those who were banished from Massachu- 
setts, on account of their antinomian principles, was Cap- 
tain John Underbill, who settled at Dover, New Hamp- 
shire, and, on the expulsion of Burdet, was chosen 
"governor" of that town. He was himself an enthu- 
siast of bad character, and introduced Hanserd Knollys, 



SIMON BRADSTREET. 379 

an Antinomian Baptist, to the ministry there. Knollys 
busied himself in calumniating the Massachusetts settlers, 
and soon raised up a strong party in opposition. Thomas 
Larkham, a zealous churchman, from England, headed 
this new party. One party dealt out bulls and excom- 
munications; and the other imposed fines and penalties; 
until the little settlement became a theatre of riots, as- 
saults and general disorder. The government of Mas- 
sachusetts, which had always had an eye upon the east- 
ern settlements, now thought it time to interfere ; and 
Mr. Bradstreet, Hugh Peters, and Samuel Dalton, were 
appointed commissioners to inquire into the dilTiculties 
at Dover, and attempt a reconciliation. These peace 
makers travelled from Boston to Dover on foot, and hav- 
ing ascertained that both parties were in fault, succeeded 
in adjusting the feud, by persuading one party to remit 
its fines and penalties, and the other to annul its cen- 
sures and excommunications.* 

When, in the year 1643, the New England Colonies 
formed their memorable confederation, or union for mu- 
tual protection and defence, Mr. Bradstreet was one of 
the commissioners on the part of the Massachusetts colo- 
ny, and took an active part in the proceedings.! The 
records of that period, in all the public affairs of the col- 
ony, show how diligent and useful he was as a public 
officer, through all the changes of the infant common- 

* See Farmer's Belknap, 23-26, and Farmer and Moore's Collections, ii. 236. 

t Governor Winthrop, in noticing the selection made by the deputies for 
this important service, calls " the choosing one of the younger magistrates 
(Bradstreet) a great error," although he pronounces him to be " a very able 
man." The reason probably was, that Mr. Bradstreet was " an eastern man," 
being at that time a resident of Ipswich ; for he was one of the original assistants, 
and had been fourteen times re-elected to that ofSce, although he was now but 
forty years of age. 



380 SIMON BRADSTREET. 

wealth. As one of the most active magistrateSj he was 
noted as rarely ever absent from his post ; and in his capa- 
city of secretary of the colony^ his papers bore the marks 
of a clerkly hand, and of a mind so well trained in matters 
of law, and legislation, that he is spoken of by the editor 
of Winthrop, as having been "bred to the bar." 

Mr. Bradstreet, although a strict Puritan in faith, 
and as decidedly opposed " to all heresy and schism," as 
his austere relative Dudley, was endowed with a differ- 
ent temper ; and for the sake of peace, or with the hope 
of reformation, could more readily excuse an offender. 
He seems to have been imbued with a spirit more gen- 
tle, and to have been influenced by a better idea of reli- 
gious freedom, than some of his associates in the colony. 
While the Antinomian controversy was pending, he 
seems to have been inclined to more moderate measures 
than the exasperated magistrates and elders. When 
Anne Hutchinson was arraigned, before Governor Win- 
throp, and during two days, in presence of the whole 
authority in church and state united, maintained her 
ground with a self-possession and ability that came near 
carrying some of the judges in her favour, as her argu- 
ments already had convinced a majority of the Boston 
church, — Mr. Bradstreet was for persuasion rather than 
force. He remarked to Mrs. Hutchinson, that she ought 
to forbear her meetings, because they gave offence; and 
when she interposed a plea of conscience, he replied that 
he was not against all women's meetings, and even con- 
sidered them to be lawful, but still thought they should 
be avoided, as matters disturbing the public peace.* 

* See Account of the Trial of Anne Hutchinson, in Appendix to Hutchin- 
json, vol. ii. 



SI3I0N BRADSTREJiT. 3S\ 

The rigorous discipline which the churches and mag- 
istrates enforced at this period, caused many to be pub- 
licly arraigned and punished, for oficnces, which would 
at this day be deemed trivial and insignificant. To 
speak evil of rulers, was an offence, and there were nu- 
merous instances in which this breach of order was pun- 
ished with severity. Mv. Bradstreet, on occasions of this 
description, frequently took ground in favor of freedom 
of speech, and voted, in opposition to the majority of 
magistrates, against presentments and lines ^Mbr words 
spoken in contempt of government." 

In the same spirit, which was in advance of the age, 
when the witchcraft delusion overspread the colony, he 
discountenanced the excesses into which the government 
was betrayed. Brattle, in his account of this delusion, 
makes honorable mention of " the few men of understand- 
ing, judgment and piety, inferior to few if any in New 
England, that do utterly condemn the proceedings, and 
do freely deliver their judgment that these methods will 
utterly ruin and undo poor New England." Among the 
first of these he names Mr, Bradstreet.* 

In 1650, Mr. Bradstreet was one of the commission- 
ers assembled at Hartford, to determine the long contro- 
verted boundary line between the Dutch Colony of New 
Amsterdam, (New York,) and the Enghsh Colony of 
New Haven. 

The settlements which had been made at York and 
Kittery, in Maine, under grants from Gorges, early at- 
tracted the notice of the government of Massachusetts. 
They claimed the territory on the Pascataqua, as contain- 
ed within the bounds of their charter. In 1651, avail- 

* I Mass. Hist. Coll. v. 75. 



382 SIMON BRADSTREET. 

ing themselves of the advantages presented by the dis- 
sensions among the people of those settlements, the gov- 
ernment of Massachusetts appointed Mr. Bradstreet one 
of the commissioners to treat with the disaffected at 
York and Kittery, about coming under the jurisdiction of 
Massachusetts. In the following year, matters had been 
so far matured, that on Mr. Bradstreet's again appearing 
at Kittery, and summoning the inhabitants to come in 
and acknowledge their subjection to Massachusetts, they 
resolved to surrender, and signed an instrument of sub- 
mission, which was soon after followed by a similar 
submission of the people of York, Saco, Wells, &c. 

In June, 1654, we find Mr. Bradstreet active in a 
meeting at Ipswich, on the subject of preparing a refuta- 
tion of certain calumnies, which had been forwarded to 
the Protector Cromwell, against the general court of 
Massachusetts. 

It was some months after the restoration of Charles 
II. became known, before he was proclaimed in Massa- 
chusetts; although a loyal address was voted and for- 
warded, in December, 1660. The colonists were alarmed 
as to the consequences of the great revolutions in the 
parent state; and sinister reports of evil for a time kept 
the people in a state of feverish anxiety. In May, 1661, 
the state of public affairs was brought before the general 
court, Mr. Bradstreet was placed at the head of a com- 
mittee " to consider and debate such matters touch- 
ing their patent rights, and privileges, and duty to his 
Majesty, as should to them seem proper." This com- 
mittee, after grave deliberation, embodied their report 
in an able state paper, drawn up by Mr. Bradstreet, and 
adopted by the general court in special session, 10th 



SIMON BRADSTREET. 383 

June, 1C61. This report declares in emphatic terms the 
rights and liberties of the colony, under the charter, fol- 
lowed by a declaration of allegiance, loyalty and duty to 
the king. 

The Massachusetts address to the King met a favor- 
able reception, notwithstanding strong representations 
had been forwarded against the colony, growing out of 
the persecutions of the Quakers, and other rigorous 
measures. The royal mandamus soon after put an end 
to this persecution; and Massachusetts was summoned 
to answer complaints made against the government of 
the colony. In this emergency, Mr. Brad street and Mr. 
Norton were despatched to England. They met with 
a favorable reception at court, and in answer to the 
address and petition of Massachusetts, they were intrus- 
ted with a letter from the King, which promised a full 
pardon of- political offences, and a confirmation of the 
ancient privileges of the colony, but coupled with such 
conditions as created at once, in the midst of the general 
rejoicing at the prospect of peace, a deep gloom through- 
out the colony. The requisitions of the King, in this 
instance, were in the highest degree tolerant and ejilight- 
ened, far beyond the scope of most of the acts of his 
reign. Bradstreet and Norton understood the matter in 
this light, and so it was considered by the best friends of 
the colony in England. But the general court looked 
upon the King's letter as requiring a surrender of their 
rights, which they determined not hastily to assent to. 
The agents, who were supposed to have made unneces- 
sary concessions, were now loaded with reproaches, and 
evils which it could not have been in their power to avert, 
were laid to their charge. Mr. Norton, a feithful and 



384 SIMON BRADSTREET. 

honest man, who went reluctantly upon the embassyj 
couki not bear up under the general reproach; but Mr. 
Bradstreet, conscious that he had in no way compromit- 
ted the honor or rights of the colony, steadily defended 
his course, and advocated a dutiful compliance with the 
requisitions of the King, as the best and only safe course. 
When the royal commissioners arrived in 1665, Mr. 
Bradstreet was one of the few who counselled a quiet 
compliance, and protested against the declaration of the 
general court drawn up in answer to the demands of the 
commissioners. The sturdy democracy of the Puritans, 
however, forbade their yielding an iota of what they 
conceived to be their chartered privileges; and they not 
only denounced the proceedings of the commissioners, 
but prohibited any one from abetting or aiding them. 
If the course advised by Mr. Bradstreet might have been 
under the circumstances, the more prudent and politic, 
that adopted by the colony was in fact more noble, and 
better becoming a community of freemen. 

In 1673, Mr. Bradstreet was chosen deputy governor, 
and continued in that office under repeated elections, until 
the death of Governor Leverett, in 1679. In May of 
that year, he was first chosen governor, at the age of 
seventy-six years, having previously been chosen an as- 
sistant for fifty years in succession. He was annually re- 
elected governor, until May, 1686, when the charter was 
dissolved, and Dudley commenced his administration as 
president of New England. Dudley's commission from 
James II. bore date the 8th October, 1685, and Mr. 
Bradstreet was the first of the seventeen counsellors 
named in the commission. The new president, on re- 
ceiving his commission, waited upon Mr. Bradstreet at 



St.MON BRADSTREEt. S85 

his house, the 14th May, 1686; but Mr. Bradstreet de- 
cHned accepting the appointment, as did his son, Dudley 
Bradstreet, also named as counsellor.* 

The tyranny of Andros, which followed the short 
rule of Dudley, bringing with it the most gloomy fore- 
bodings as to the future, nerved the arms of the people 
and knit their hearts in unison for ultimate resistance. 
The venerable Bradstreet, though verging upon ninety 
years of age, was consulted by the people, and gave his 
advice as the Nestor of New England. In a letter 
w^hich Hutchinson has preserved, on the subject of the 
arbitrary seizure of lands, and contempt of title deeds, 
by Andros, Governor Bradstreet states with admirable 
clearness his opinion of the case.f 

When tUe people of Boston, on the 18th of April, 
1689, rose in arms, and the inhabitants from the sur- 
rounding country flocked in to the assistance of their 
brethren of the capital, Mr. Bradstreet and fourteen of 
the magistrates of 1686, addressed a message to Andros, 
in the name of the people, demanding of him, an im- 
mediate surrender of the government and fortifications. J 

* Hutchinson's Hist. Colony of Mass. Bay, 351. 

t Hutchinson's Colony of Mass. Bay, 360, 361. 

t The following is the message referred to, which is copied from the origi- 
nal handbill, printed in black letter by Green, in 1669, in possession of Col. 
Petkr Force, of Washington, D. C 

"^5< the Town House in Boston: April 18lh, 1689. 
"Sir, — Ourselves as well as many others the Inhabitants of this town and 
places adjacent, being surprised with the People's sudden taking to Arms, in the 
first motion whereof we were wholly ignorant, are driven by the present Exi- 
gence and Necessity to acquaint your Excellency, that for the Quieting and 
Security of the People inhabiting this Countrey from the imminent Dangers 
they many wayes lie open and are exposed unto, and for your own Safety ; We 
judge it necessary that you forthwith Surrender, and Deliver up the Govern- 
ment and Fortifications to be preserved, to be Disposed according to Order and 

49 



386 SIMON BRADSTREET. 

The governor with his council resisted, and withdrew to 
the fort. "Just then, (says Bancroft,) the last governor 
of the colony, in office when the charter was abrogated, 
Simon Bradstreet, glorious with the dignity of fourscore 
years and seven, one of the early emigrants, a magistrate 
in 1630, whose experience connected the oldest genera- 
tion with the new, drew near the town-house, and was 
received by a great shout from the freemen. The old 
magistrates were reinstated, as a council of safety ; the 
whole town rose in arms, ^ with the most unanimous re- 
solution that ever inspired a people ;' and a declaration, 
read from the balcony, defended the insurrection, as a 
duty to God and the country. ^ We commit our enter- 
prise,' it is added, ^ to Him who hears the cry of the op- 
pressed, and advise all our neighbors, for whom we have 
thus ventured ourselves, to joyn with us in prayers and 
all just actions for the defence of the land.' On Charles- 
town side, a thousand soldiers crowded together; and 
the multitude would have been larger if needed. The 
governor, vainly attempting to escape to the frigate, was, 
with his creatures, compelled .to seek protection by sub- 



Direction from the Crown of England, which is suddenly expected may arrive. 
Promising all Security from violence to your Self, or any other of your Gen- 
tlemen and Souldiers in Person or Estate : or else we are assured they will 
endeavor the taking of the Fortifications by Storm, if any opposition be made. 

'To Sr. Edmond Andross, Knight. * 

William Stoughton, Simon Bradstreet, Wait Winthrop, 

Thomas Danforth, John Richards, Samuel Shrimpton, 

Elisha Cook, William Brown, 

Isaac Addington, Barthol. Gedney, 

John Foster, 

Peter Sergeant, 

David Waterhouse, 

Adam Winthrop, 

John Nelson. 
"Boston. Printed by Samuel Green, 1689." 



SIMON BRADSTREET. 387 

mission ; through the streets where he had first displayed 
his scarlet coat and arbitrary commission, he and his 
fellows were marched to the town-house, and thence to 
prison. All the cry was against Andros and Randolph. 
The castle was taken; the frigate was mastered; the 
fortifications occupied." The people voted to re-assume 
the old charter ; representatives were chosen ; and Mas- 
sachusetts again assembled in general court, calling Brad- 
street to the chair of state.* 

Mr. Bradstreet was annually re-elected Governor of 
Massachusetts, and of New Hampshire, under the union 
of those provinces, until the arrival of Sir William 
Phips, in May, 1692, with a charter, which deprived 
the people of the right of choosing their chief magis- 
trate. In this charter he was named as senior counsel- 
lor. But the venerable old man, after more than half 
a century of public service, now retired from office, and 
closed his eventful career at Salem, on the 27th March, 
1697, in the 95th year of his age. His great age is at- 
tributed by Mather to his temperate habits of life. The 
inscription upon his tomb, in the ancient burial place at 
Salem, is as follows : 

SIMON BRADSTREET, 

Armigcr, ex ordine Senatoris, in colonia Maasachusettensi ab anno 1630, usque ad annum 1673. 
Deindo ad annum 1679, Vico-Guliernator. Denique ad annum 1G86, ejusdem colonial, conimuni 
et constanti populi suffragio, Gubcrnator. Vir, judicio Lynccario preditus : quern ncc nunima, 
nee honos allexit. Regis authoritatem, ct populi lihortatem, ai(|ua lance libravit. Religione 
cerdatus, vita innocuus, mundum et vicit, et deseruit, 27 die Martii, A. D. 1697. Annoq. 
Guliel. 3t ii. et JEt. 94. 

His epitaph, says Felt, gives a correct idea of his 
character: — "He w^as a man of deep discernment, whom 
neither wealth nor honor could allure from duty. He 
poised with an equal balance, the authority of the King, 

• Hutchinson, 373—382. Bancroft, ii. 447. 



388 SIMON BRADSTREET- 

and the liberty of the people. Sincere in Religion^ and 
pure in his life^ he overcame and left the world." The 
assembly of the province being in session at the time of 
his death, ^^in consideration of the long and extraordi' 
nary service of Simon Bradstreet, late Governor, who is 
now deceased, voted £100 towards defraying the charges 
of his interment." 

The first wife of Governor Bradstreet, as has already 
been stated, was Anne, daughter of Governor Thomas 
Dudley, whom he married in England. She died 16th 
September, 1672, at the age of 60 years. ^^She is," 
says Savage, ^'^ the most distinguished of the early ma- 
trons of our land by her literary powers." A volume of 
her poems was published in 1678. It was dedicated to 
her father, in a copy of verses, dated 20 March, 1642, 
and is probably the earliest poetic volume written in 
America.* 

There is also in possession of one of her descendants, 
a manuscript volume, in the hand-writing of Mrs. Brad- 
street, dedicated to her " Dear Son Simon Bradstreet," 
and containing seventy seven ^^ Meditations, Divine and 
Moral," which she intended to continue through the 
volume, as we are told in a note written by her son, 
*^but was prevented by death." Extracts from these 
Meditations are given in the History of the First Church 
of Charlestown, Massachusetts.! 

After the death of his first wife. Governor Bradstreet, 
in 1680, married Ann, widow of Capt. Joseph Gardner, 
who was killed in the memorable Narragansett fight, 19 
Dec. 1675. This lady was a daughter of Emanuel Dow- 

* See page 295, ante. 

\ By Rev. William I. Budington, published in 1845. 



SIMO.V URADSTREKT. .'^SD 

ning, distinguished lor her talents and accomplishments. 
She died 19 April, 1713, aged 79. 

Governor Bradstreet's children were^ four sons and 
four daughters, viz. 

Samuel, who was graduated at Harvard College in 
1653, of which he was one of the fellows, was admitted 
freeman, 1G53, was representative for Andover, in 1G70, 
and died before 1683. 

Simon, graduated at Harvard College in 1667, wfis 
ordained as minister of New London, Connecticut, 5 
Oct., 1670, and died in 1688. 

Dudley, who was born 1648, was representative for 
Andover, in 1677 and 1692, was colonel of militia, and 
one of the Council of Safety, appointed in 1689. 

John, born 31 July, 1652, and settled at Salem. 

Jinn, who in 1659, married Thomas Wiggin, of Exe- 
ter, New Hampshire. 

Dorothy, who married Rev. Seaborn Cotton of 
Hampton, New Hampshire, and died 26 Feb., 1671. 

Hannah, who married a Wiggin ; and Mercy, who in 
1672, married Nathaniel Wade of Medford. 

The Rev. Simon Bradstreet, son of the minister of 
New London, and grandson of Gov. Bradstreet, was 
graduated at Harvard College in 1693, and settled at 
Charlestown, 26 October, 1698. He was a man of great 
learning, and lively imagination ; but in the latter part of 
his life, became so hypochondriacal, that he was afraid to 
preach in the pulpit, lest he should die there, and for 
some time delivered his sermons from the deacon's seat.* 

* The anecdote is told of him, that when Lieut. Gov. Tailor introduced him 
to Gov. Burnet, who was himself a scholar, he said " Here is a man, sir, who 
can whistle Greek." 



390 



IX. JOSEPH DUDLEY. 

Joseph Dudley, son of Governor Thomas Dudley, 
was born on the 23d of July, 1647, at Roxbury, Massa- 
chusetts. He was the son of the Governor's old age, 
being born after his father had attained the age of sev- 
enty years. During his childhood, he was under the 
care of his excellent mother, and the Rev. Mr. Allin of 
Dedham, to whom she was married after the death of 
Gov. Dudley. He was educated at the free school in 
Cambridge, under the famous Master Corlet, and at 
Harvard College, where he graduated in 1665, in the 
18th year of his age. Hutchinson says, "he was edu- 
cated for the ministry, and if various dignities had been 
known in the New England churches, possibly he had 
lived and died a clergyman; but without this, nothing 
could be more dissonant from his genius. He soon 
turned his thoughts to civil affairs. Ambition was the 
ruling passion, and perhaps, like Caesar, he had rather 
be the first man in New England, than second in Old." 

He was admitted a freeman in 1672, and in 1673 he 
was first chosen a representative from his native town, 
Roxbury, and was re-elected for the two following years. 
In 1676, he was chosen one of the assistants, in which 
office he continued, (with the exception of one year,) 
until 1685, when he was appointed President of Massa- 
chusetts and New Hampshire. 

When the great Indian war broke out in 1675, Dud- 
ley was appointed one of the commissioners of Massa- 
chusetts, who, accompanying the military forces of the 



JOSEPH DUDLEY. 391 

colony into the country of the Narragansetts, were ena- 
bled to dictate the terms of a treaty, with the chiefs of 
that tribe, by which they bound themselves to aid the 
English in the war against Philip.* Mr. Dudley was 
present at the great battle with the Narragansetts in 
December, 1675, and wrote to Governor Leverett an in- 
teresting account of the battle, which is published by 
Hutchinson. 

Mr. Dudley, with a keen perception of the future in 
political affairs, attached himself to the moderate party 
in 1680, inclining to the opinion that it was best to ac- 
quiesce in the surrender of the old charter, and wait for 
circumstances. This is supposed to have paved the way 
for his agency to England, to which, in conjunction with 
Major John Richards, he was appointed in 1682. He 
professed himself warmly in favor of the restoration of 
the charter, but his conduct in England proved him to 
have played the courtier, rather for his own advancement, 
than for the interests of his native land. His mission 
was unsuccessful, and he returned to Boston, 23 Octo- 
ber, 1683. His proceedings not proving satisfactory to 
the people, he lost his election as an assistant in 1684. 

During his visit to England, finding that he could 
not serve his country by obtaining a confirmation of the 
old charter, he determined to look well to his own in- 
terests ; and accordingly became a prominent candidate 
for the chief magistracy. Dudley was a finished cour- 
tier, as well as an adroit politician, and the idea of having 
a New England man, born and brought up among the 



* Hutchinson, i. 289 — 291 ; where the articles are inserted. The Narragan- 
setts, who were then very powerful, had promised Philip to rise, in the spring of 
1676, with 4000 men. 



392 JOSEPH DUDLEA'. 

inhabitants^ appointed governor, was a circumstance that 
gave him many friends — an advantage which a man of 
his address knew well how to use. He was successful 
in his application, and when the government of Massa- 
chusetts was changed, in 1686, to a President and Coun- 
cil, he was appointed to the presidency. The people 
had resisted as long as possible the surrender of their 
charter; and when the Rose frigate arrived in May, 1686, 
with Dudley's commission, the general court informed 
the new president and council, that they did not consid- 
er their assuming of the government as just; but if they 
considered themselves bound to obey the King, they 
might, and the court would endeavour to act legally.* 

King James II. was proclaimed with great ceremony, 
in the ^^High street in Boston," on the 20th April, 1686, 
and Mr. Dudley received his commission on the 15th 
May, and published it on the 26th, when the new Pres- 
ident first met the Council in form.f He was commis- 
sioned as President of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, 
Maine, and Rhode Island; and to assist him in the gov- 
ernment, fifteen mandamus counsellors were appointed 
by the crown. No house of deputies was recognized. 
To the President and Council, thus constituted, was com- 
mitted the power of managing and controlling all the 

* See Hutchinson's Colony Mass. Bay, 342. The town of Salem, in antici- 
pation of Dudley's appointment, gave the following instructions to their depu- 
ties in the general court : " In case Mr. Dudley, &c., said to be nominated and 
authorized by his majesty to edit another government here, do publish a loyal 
nullification of our Charter, and a commission from the King for their accept- 
ance of the government here, then our instruction to you is, that you give no 
countenance to any resistance, but peaceably withdraw yourselves, as represent- 
ing us no longer." Felt's Annals, 262. 

t Dudley's commission as President of New England, is dated 27 Sept. 1685. 
He acted from 25 May, 1686, until 20 Dec. 1686, when Andros arrived. 



JOSEPH DUDLEY. 393 

public affairs. The new government went into opera- 
tion, 25 May, 1686. In general, all the existing legal 
usages were observed. But Dudley's administration was 
short, and, though unpopular with the people, seems not 
to have been a very grievous one. It lasted but four 
months and twenty-six days, when the next political rev- 
olution brought Andros upon the stage, as governor of 
New York and New England. This man arrived at 
Boston on the 20th December, and published his com- 
mission on the following day. Dudley was retained as 
one of his Council, of which he became president, and 
was also made one of the Justices of the Superior Court. 
In this capacity, he opposed some of the proceedings of 
Andros and the Council, in their attacks upon the titles 
of the people to their lands. In other matters, however, 
he generally went with the party of Andros, and so man- 
aged as to keep up a friendly understanding with him 
and with Randolph, his infamous agent and confidential 
adviser. 

Mr. Dudley, of course, became peculiarly the object 
of dislike among the people, who regarded him as little 
better than the betrayer of their liberties. And, when 
in April, 1689, they overturned the government of An- 
dros, Dudley, as one of the most obnoxious, was arrested 
and kept a close prisoner for a long time. On the 16th 
May, 1689, a ship arrived from England with advices of 
the proclaiming of William and Mary. This was most 
joyful news. The fears of the people, of any bad con- 
sequences, from their late revolutionary actions, were 
now over. '^On the 29th, the proclamation was pub- 
lished in Boston, with greater ceremony than had ever 
been known. Governor Bradstreet and his council, the 
50 



394 JOSEPH DUDLEY. 

civil and military officerSj merchants of the town^ and 
country, being on horseback, the regiment of the town, 
and many companies of horse and foot from the country, 
appearing in arms — a great entertainment was prepared 
in the town house, and wine was served out to the sol- 
diers." 

On the 5th of June, the representatives from several 
towns assembled at Boston. The council immediately 
proposed to them to consent to the liberation of the gentle- 
men seized by the people, upon security, but this was 
not agreed to ; and on the 27th, they resolved that they 
were not bailable, and sent up articles against them. 
Sir Edmund Andros, Col. Dudley,* and others, remained 
in close custody for upwards of twenty weeks. At last, 
an order was received from the King, approving the 
course pursued by the people, and old magistrates, and di- 
recting that Andros and the rest of the prisoners should 
be sent forthwith to England. This order arrived late in 
the year, and on the 16th Feb. 1690, Sir Edmund An- 
dros, Mr. Dudley, and several others, embarked for Eng- 
land. 

Lieut. Gov. Danforth, in a letter to Dr. I. Mather, 
speaking of the transactions of this period, says, " Mr. 
Dudley is in a peculiar manner the object of the people's 
displeasure, even throughout all the colonies, where he 
hath sat as judge; they deeply resent his correspondence 
with that wicked man Randolph, for overturning the gov- 
ernment. The Governor and Council, though they 
have done their utmost to procure his enlargement, yet 
cannot prevail, but the people will have him in the jail ; 

* Whitman supposes that Dudley obtained liis title of Colonel, by an appoint- 
ment in the British army while in England. 



JOSEPH DUDLEY. 395 

and when he hatli been by order turned out^ by force 
and tumult they fetch him in." Dudley himself^, in a 
letter to Cotton Mather, dated 1st June, says, "I am 
told that this morning is the last opportunity for rolling 
away the stone from the mouth of this sepulchre, where 
I am buried alive," &c. And in a letter to his brother- 
in-law. Gov. Bradstreet, dated 12th Sept., he says, 
^' After twenty weeks unaccountable imprisonment, and 
many barbarous usages offered me, I have now to com- 
plain that on Monday, the whole day, I could be allowed 
no victuals, till nine o'clock at night, when the keeper's 
wife offered to kindle her own fire and warm something 
for me, and the Corporal expressly commanded the lire 
to be put out. I may be easily oppressed to death. 
God will hear them that complain to him. I pray your 
direction for your oppressed kinsman, J. D." 

Gov. Dudley returned to his native country towards 
the close of the year 1690, having been much more suc- 
cessful in conciliating the favor of the crown, than he 
could hope to be of regaining the confidence of the peo- 
ple. He was now looking to another sphere of action 
for public honors. The supreme court of the colony of 
New York was established on the 6th of May, 1691, 
and on the 15th Mr. Dudley, who had previously been 
appointed a member of the council of New York, was 
appointed chief justice by Governor Sloughter. On the 
11th Nov. 1692, after the arrival of Gov. Fletcher, he 
was removed from this station, on account of not being 
resident in the province. As a member of the council of 
New York, and senior in the board, he was entitled to 
preside in the administration of that province, on the 
death of Sloughter; but being absent in Massachusetts at 



396 JOSEPH DUDLEY. 

the timCj the chief position was given to another, a pro- 
ceeding which Mr. Dudley did not think it worth while 
to contest. 

Mr. Dudley went the third time to England in 1693 ; 
where he remained until 1702. While there, he was 
eight years Deputy Governor of the Isle of Wight, un- 
der Lord Cutts, through whose interest he was also re- 
turned a member of the House of Commons, for the 
borough of Newton in Southampton. On the death of 
King William, he returned with a commission from Queen 
Anne, as governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, 
with which he arrived at Boston, 11 June, 1702, and 
was received, says the Boston News Letter of that day, 
^^with great respect and affection."* He was sworn 
into office, 13th June, 1702. During his absence in 
England, he had managed to take advantage of the 
complaints transmitted from Massachusetts against Gov- 
ernor Phips, and after having caused him to be arrest- 
ed in London, and held to bail in i^20,000, found it an 
easy matter to supplant him. 

On meeting his first assembly, Dudley gave " instances 
of his remembering the old quarrel, and the people, on 
their parts, resolved never to forget it."f " All his in- 
genuity could not stem the current of their prejudice 
against him." A stated salary was demanded for the 
governor. " As to settling a salary for the governor," 
replied the House, ^^ it is altogether new to us ; nor can 
we think it agreeable to our present constitution ; but we 
shall be ready to do what may be proper for his support." 

* Sir Charles Hobby, a native of Boston, was a rival of Dudley for the 
office of governor. He died in London, in 1714. 

t Bancroft, iii. 99, 100. 



JOSEPH DUULEV. 397 

Here began the controversy wliich nothing but indepen- 
dence could solve. In vain did Dudley endeavor to win 
from the legislature, concessions to the royal prerogative; 
and he, and for a season his son also, became the active 
opponents of the chartered liberties of New England, 
endeavoring to eflfect their overthrow, and the establish- 
ment of a general government, as in the days of Andros. 
In December, 1702, he wrote to the board of trade in 
England, that ^^ many of the council were Common- 
wealth's men, and that until the Queen should appoint a 
Council, nothing could be done." In December, 1703, 
he writes to the secretary of state, that he "had communi- 
cated the Queen's requisitions to the assembly relative to 
Pemaquid, and the settlement of salaries — but though he 
had used all possible methods, he found it impossible to 
move that sort of men, who love not the Crown and Gov- 
ernment of England to any manner of obedience." 
About this time, the copy of a letter written by Paul 
Dudley, son of the governor, who was then attorney 
general, was made public, in which he made the offen- 
sive declaration, that " this country will never be worth 
living in for lawyers and gentlemen, till the charter is 
taken away." Hutchinson says the governor had no 
rest for the first seven years.* 

At the general electiT)n in May, 1703, Governor Dud- 
ley negatived five of the newly elected counsellors — men 
of probity, influence and popularity — but whose course 
towards him, in the revolution of 1689, he could not so 
far overlook, as to admit them among his confidential ad- 
visers. Thomas Oakes, a representative from Boston, 
and a popular leader of the opposition, was this year 

* Hutchinson, ii. 140. 



39S JOSEPH DUDLEY. 

chosen speaker of the house. The governor negatived 
the choice. He was then chosen to the council^ when 
Dudley negatived him there also. He was for many 
yearS; representative from Boston^ and in 1705^ was 
again chosen speaker. Dudley negatived the choice^ and 
ordered the house to choose another person, but they re- 
fused. These proceedings, of course, rendered the gov- 
ernor very unpopular with the people. The belief was 
also becoming somewhat general, encouraged by the scan- 
dals of his enemies, that he was secretly encouraging an 
illicit trade with the French possessions in North Ameri- 
ca — a charge which does not seem to have had any foun- 
dation. 

In July, 1702, Gov. Dudley visited all the eastern 
frontiers as far as Pemaquid, taking with him such gen- 
tlemen of the general court as he thought proper, where 
he met the delegates from the Indian tribes, and confirmed 
the treaties which had been formerly made. Queen Anne 
had already declared war against France, and the colonies 
soon became again involved in a French and Indian war. 
To keep the eastern Indians at peace. Governor Dudley 
in June, 1703, held another conference with the chiefs, 
who assured him that they had no thought of breaking 
the peace, which '"should continue as long as the sun 
and moon." In six weeks after, they attacked all the 
settlements from Casco to Wells, burning and destroying 
all before them. Governor Dudley, during this painful 
struggle, appears to have laboured with great earnest- 
ness to prosecute the war, and protect the people from 
their enemies. The war continued until the treaty of 
Utrecht, in 1713, was known in America, when the east- 
ern Indians proposed to treat of peace, and Governor 



JOSEPH Dl'DLEY. 399 

Dudley finally concluded a treaty with them at Ports- 
mouthj on the 13th July.* 

From his first arrival as governor, Dudley had shown 
a fond regard for the interests of his Jllma Mater, and 
President Quincy, in his elaborate Plistory of Harvard 
University, classes Gov. Dudley among the greatest ben- 
efactors of the college. ^^ Of all the statesmen, who have 
been instrumental in promoting the interests of Harvard 
University, Joseph Dudley was most influential in giving 
its constitution a permanent character." When, howev- 
er, near the close of his career, the trustees of the col- 
lege refused to make a son of the governor their treasurer, 
the corporation incurred his resentment, and that of the 
family. 

The demise of Queen Anne occurred in 1714. This 
event rendered the tenure of Governor Dudley's office 
precarious — his influence declined, and he seems to have 
gathered his robes about him to quit the stage. He met 
the Assembly for the last time in May, 1715, but made 
no speech, as was his wont. He was superseded in No- 
vember, of that year, by Governor Shute. 

Gov. Dudley's administration was popular in New 
Hampshire. Beside his attention to the general interests 
of the province, and his care for its defence against the 
Indians, he had the particular merit of favoring the 
views of the people who were opposed to Allen's claim ; 
and they made him amends, by promoting in the assem- 
bly addresses to the Queen, defending his character 
when it was attacked, and praying for his continuance in 
office, when petitions were presented for his removal. 
A good harmony subsisted between the governor and 

" Penhallow's Indian Wnrs,72— 80. 



400 JOSEPH DUDLEY. 

people, and between the two branches of the legislature 
of the province, during the whole of his administration.* 
7^he general feeling in his favor was evinced in 1707, 
when a petition from Massachusetts to the Queen against 
the governor, was read before the general assembly in 
New Hampshire. The council and representatives in full 
assembly, nemine contradicente, voted that some of the 
charges were scandalous, unheard of, and false re- 
proaches ; and they drew up an address to the Queen, in 
which they justified his administration from all those ca- 
lumnies, and prayed his continuance in the government.! 
Governor Dudley, as one of the original grantees of 
the town of Oxford, Massachusetts, conceived the pro- 
ject of forming there a settlement of French Protestants, 
who were looking for safety by flight to other countries, 
on the revocation of the edict of Nantz.J A correspon- 

* John Usher, who was lieutenant governor of New Hampshire under Dud- 
ley, furnishes a key to the good understanding between the governor and the 
people of New Hampshire. In a letter written in January, 1704, to the Board 
of Trade and Plantations, he says that " Dudley, in consideration of £160 per 
annum, allotvs a Republican party to govern, and every one against a Crown 
sovernment, in places of trust." In a previous letter to the Board, dated Dec. 
1703, Usher complains of the bad state of the government of New Hampshire— 
" which will not be happy unless a Governor is sent, who, without regard to 
money, will enforce the prerogative, and curb their anti-monarchical principles." 
Sampson Sheafe, then collector of the customs at New Castle, in Feb. 1704, 
wrote the Board of Trade, that " Usher had come to a ticklish government, as 
the people are of an ungovernable spirit, and, notwithstanding their pretensions, 
are against monarchical government." [From copies of Records in Plantation 
Office, London, in possession of Col. Peter Force, Washington, D. C.J 

t In June, 1706, a petition was presented to the Queen for the removal of 
Governor Dudley, on the charge of mal-administration of the government and 
of being secretly concerned with the smugglers. It appears that he had granted 
permits to some of those traders to carry contraband articles to Port Royal. This 
was the source of many suspicions against him. The general court of Massa- 
chusetts, however, passed a vote in Nov. 1707, expressing their belief that Mr. 
Dudley was innocent of the charge. Felt, 344. Hutchinson, ii. 145. 

t Henry IV. of France, on the 13 April, 1598, signed at Nantz, an edict, 
granting "perpetual and inviolable liberty of conscience to the Protestants.',' 
This edict was revoked by Louis XIV. on the 8 Oct. 1685 



JOSEPH DUDLEY. 401 

dencc look placo between some of the leading Protestants 
at Rochelle, and the })i'opriclors of Oxford, which resuU- 
ed in the settlement of that town in 168G, by thirty 
Huguenot families, who had escaped from France.* 

On leaving office, Governor Dudley retired to his 
estate in Roxbury, where he died on the 2d April, 1720, 
in the 73d year of his age. ^^He was buried, (says the 
Boston News-Letter, ) on the 8th, in the sepulchre of 
his father, with all the honors and respect his country 
was capable of doing him. He was a man of rare endow- 
ments and shining accomplishments, a singular honor to 
his country. He was early its darling, always its orna- 
ment, and in age its crown. The scholar, the divine, the 
philosopher, and the lawyer, all met in him." Hutchin- 
son says, "he applied himself w^ith the greatest diligence 
to the business of his station. The affairs of the war, and 
other parts of his administration, were conducted with 
good judgment. In economy, he excelled, both in pub- 
lic and private life." 

Such is the judgment of a contemporary, and of the 
early historian of Massachusetts, respecting the second 
Governor Dudley. Bancroft, with the added lights of his- 
torical investigation, comes to this stern estimate : " The 
character of Dudley was that of profound selfishness. 
He possessed prudence and the inferior virtues, and was 
as good a governor as one could be, who loved neither 
freedom nor his native land. His grave is among stran- 
gers; his memory has perished from among those whose 
interests he flattered, and is preserved only in the coun- 
try of his birth. Pie who loved himself more than free- 

* See an interesting memoir of the French Protestants of Massachusetts, by 
the late Dr. Holmes, in 2d vol. 3d scries Mass. Hist. Collections. 

51 



402 JOSEPH DUDLEY. 

dom or his country, is left without one to palHate his 
selfishness."* 

Governor Dudley married, in 1668, Rebecca, daugh- 
ter of major-general Edward Tyng, of Boston, afterwards 
of Dunstable. She survived the governor about two 
years, and died 21 Sept., 1722. Their children were, 

1. Thomas y born 26 February, 1670, graduated at 
Harvard College in 1685. 

2. Edwardy born 4 September, 1671, died in Janua- 
ry, 1683. 

3. Paul, born 3 September, 1675, graduated at H. 
C. in 1690, and died at Roxbury, 21 January, 1751, 
aged 75. He finished his law studies at the Temple, 
London ; was appointed attorney general of the province, 
and afterwards chief justice. He was a learned and 
pious man, and founder of the Dudleian Lecture at Har- 
vard College. A member of the Royal Society of Lon- 
don, several valuable articles from his pen are found 
among their published transactions. 

4. Samuel, born in September, 1677. 

5. John, born 28 February, 1679. 

6. Rebecca, born in 1681, married 15 Sept. 1702, to 
Samuel Sewall, son of Chief Justice Sewall, and propri- 
etor of a large estate in Brookline, where he died of pa- 
ralysis in 1751, aged 73. 

7. Catharine, who died young. 8. Anne. 

9. William,hoYn 20 Oct. 1686, graduated at H. C. 
in 1704, was a colonel of mihtia, and member of the 
council. 

10. Daniel, born 4 February, 1689. 

11. Catharine, 2d; and 12. Mary. 

^ Bancroft, iii. 100. 



^10,1 



X. SIR EDMUND ANDROS. 

Sill Edmund Andros, " Seigneur of Sausmares/' 
as he styled himselfj* and '^3. poor Knight of Guernsey," 
as he is called by Oldmixon, was a native of Guernsey, 
where he was born in 1632. His family is represented 
to have been wealthy and respectable, and Edmund was 
secured a commission in the army, in which he after- 
wards obtained the rank of major. Circumstances had 
introduced him to the notice of the Duke of York, who 
took him under his protection ; and his connection with 
that prince, led to his subsequent employment in Amer- 
ica. 

The treaty of Westminster, of 9 February, 1674, 
restoring to England the possession of her American ter- 
ritories, the Duke of York obtained from Charles II. a 
renewal of his patent, for the same territory which had 
been conveyed to him in 1664. This patent was dated 
29th June, and two days ^thereafter the Duke appoint- 
ed Major Andros, Governor of his territories in Ameri- 
ca. In May, 1674, Andros was empowered by a royal 
order to raise 100 soldiers in London, besides officers, 
and transport them to New York, to garrison the fort 
there, of which he was to have command. On the 31st 
October, 1674, Andros arrived at New York, received 
the surrender of the territory from the Dutch authorities, 
and re-established the former government of the Duke. 

* In a grant of land, or confirmation of a prior grant, to Ricliard Smitii, on 
Long Island, dated 2") March, IG77, Andros styles iiiniself, " Edmund Andros, 
Kaquirr, Seigneur of Saiismarea, Lt. & Gov. Genl."' &r.. 



404 SIR EDMUND ANDROS. 

One of the first acts of his administration, was 
to arraign Captain Manning, who on the 28th July, 
1673, treacherously surrendered the Enghsh fort at 
New York to the Dutch, whose invading fleet had come 
to anchor off Staten Island. Manning escaped the pun- 
ishment of death, but was publicly disgraced, — Andros 
in this case exhibiting almost the only act of lenity record- 
ed of him towards an offender, by using his influence 
with the court martial to avert the sentence of death. 

The territory conferred on the Duke, by his charter, 
comprehended not only New York, but the greater por- 
tion of the whole coast to the north.* The charter it- 
self went so far as to sanction whatever ordinance the 
Duke of York, or his agents, might establish, and 
in regard to justice and legislation, (says Bancroft,) An- 
dros, the governor, was left to his own conscience and 
his employer. He entered at once, upon the execution 
of all his powers. 

Not content with jurisdiction in civil and military af- 
fairs, Governor Andros extended his supervision over 
the moral and religious conduct of the people. Some 



* The grant, in terms, was as follows ; " All that part of the main land of 
New Eno-land, beginning at a certain place called or known by the name of St. 
Croix, next adjoining to New Scotland, in America, and from thence extending 
along the seacoast, unto a certain place called Pemaquie, or Pemequid, and so 
up the river thereof, to the furthest head of the same, as it tendeth northward ; ex- 
tending from thence to the river of Kimbequin, and so upwards, by the shortest 
course, to the river of Canada, northward ; and also all that island or islands com- 
monly called by the several name or names of Meitiwacks, or Long Island, situate 
and being towards the west of Cape Cod, and the narrow Higansetts, abutting 
upon the main land between the two rivers, then called and known by the sever- 
al names of Connecticut and Hudson's river, together also witli all the said river 
called Hudson's river, and all the land from the west side of Connecticut river 
to the cast side of Delaware bay, and also all those several islands called and 
"known by the names of Martin's vineyard, or Nantucks, or otherwise Nan- 
tucV.ct." 



SIR EDMUND AN DUOS. 405 

shallow enthusiasts in that day, as somcthncs happens in 
the present, making loud professions of personal and 
exclusive righteousness, Andros, on the 15 Feb. 1675, 
issued a warrant for the arrest and imprisonment of one 
of them, named John Gerrits, " for pretending to extra- 
ordinary sanctity" — pretending that Christ abided in him, 
" and endeavouring to instil these notions into the minds 
of others, particularly some married women," &c. The 
next day, he issued a warrant to arrest another, named 
Peter Ellct, "for reporting that he had seen sights 
or visions over the city, or fort, to the great uneasiness 
of the public mind." 

He next interfered in a religious dispute, which 
had sprung up at Albany. A Catholic clergyman, who 
had<been recommended to Andros by the Duke of York, 
was by the governor stationed at Albany. The Dutch 
minister at that place disputed his right to administer 
the sacrament, as he had not the approval of the Classis 
of Amsterdam. A bitter controversy arose. The Alba- 
ny magistrates, taking the part of their minister, imprison- 
ed the catholic priest; whereupon Andros ordered his im- 
mediate release, and summoned the magistrates before 
him at New York. Warrants wxre issued against them, 
and Leisler, who afterwards figured in the history of the 
province, refusing to comply with the order, was thrust 
into prison. Finding, after a time, that he was beginning 
to lose ground in attempting to enforce an ecclesiastical ju- 
risdiction, Andros finally gave over the further prosecu- 
• tion of this matter, and turned his attention to other 
poruons of the territory claimed by the Duke. 

He now required the submission of the inhabitants 
of Long Island, and of the whole country west of the 



406 SIR EDMUND ANDROS. 

Connecticut river. The people of the eastern part of 
Long Island at first resisted his demand, but they finally 
submitted to his authority. 

The people of Connecticut resolved to maintain 
their independence of the Duke of York, as their char- 
ter was of prior date to that of the Duke. Detach- 
ments of militia were therefore ordered to New-Lon- 
don and Saybrook, the troops at Saybrook being placed 
under the command of Capt. Thomas Bull, of Hartford. 

Early in July, 1675, the people of Saybrook were 
surprised by the appearance of Major Andros, with an 
armed force, in the Sound, making directly for the fort. 
They had received no intelligence of the hostile expe- 
dition of AndroSj and having no instructions from the 
governor, were undecided what course to take, when at 
a critical juncture Capt. Bull with his company arrived, 
and preparations were at once made for the defence of 
the fort and town. The assembly met at Hartford on the 
9th of July, and immediately drew up a protest against 
the proceedings of Andros, which they sent by express 
to Saybrook, with instructions to Capt. Bull to propose 
to Andros a reference of the dispute to commissioners. 

On the 11th, Major Andros, with several armed 
sloops drew up before the fort, hoisted the king's flag on 
board, and demanded a surrender of the fortress and 
town. Captain Bull immediately raised his majesty's 
colors in the fort, and arranged his men in the best man- 
ner possible. The major did not like to fire on 
the king's colors, and perceiving that, should he attempt 
to reduce the town by force, it would in all likelihood be 
a bloody afl^air, he judged it expedient not to fire upon 
the troops. 



SIR EDMUND AN DUOS. 407 

Early in the morning of the l'2th of July, Andros 
desired that he might have permission to land on the 
shorc^ for the purpose of an interview with the minis- 
ters and chief oihcers of the town. He probably flat- 
tered himself that if he could obtain a foothold upon the 
soilj and then read the Duke's patent, and his own com- 
mission, to the people, it would make a serious impres- 
sion upon them, and that he would be able to gain by 
artifice that which he could never accomplish by force 
of arms. He was allowed to come on shore with his 
suite. Captain BuH and his officers, with the officers 
and gentlemen of the town, met him at his landing, and 
informed him that they had, at that instant, received in- 
structions to tender him a treaty, and to refer the whole 
matter in controversy to commissioners, capable of de- 
termining it, according to law and justice. Major An- 
dros rejected the proposal at once, and forthwith com- 
manded, in his majesty's name, that the Duke's patent, 
and the commission which he had received from his 
royal highness, should be read. Captain Bull, compre- 
hending at once the artifice of Andros, commanded him, 
in his majesty's name, to forbear the reading. And 
when his clerk attempted to persist in reading. Captain 
Bull repeated his command, with such energy of voice 
and manner, as convinced the Major that it might not be 
altogether safe for him to proceed. 

The Yankee captain, having succeeded in silencing 
the valiant representative of the Duke, next informed 
him that he had a communication to deliver from the as- 
sembly, and he then read the protest. Governor Andros, 
affecting to be well pleased with the bold and soldier- 
like appearance of his opponent, asked, " What is your 



408 SIR EDMUND ANDROS. 

name ?" He replied, " My name is Bull, Sir." " Bull !" 
exclaimed the governor, ^- It is a pity that your horns 
are not tipped with silver." Finding that he could make 
no impression upon the officers or people, and that the 
legislature of the colony were determined to defend them- 
selves, in the possession of their chartered rights, An- 
dros prudently gave up his design of seizing the fort. 
The militia of the town courteously guarded him to his 
boat, and going on board, he soon sailed for New York, 
and Connecticut was no more troubled by his presence, 
or interference, until after the accession of James the 
Second. 

Andros, acting in the spirit of his master, discour- 
aged even the mention of an assembly, and proceeded to 
levy customs, and to establish ordinances, without the 
consent of the people. The Puritans of Long Island, 
however, were so unanimous in opposition, claiming a 
representation as an inalienable birthright, that Andros 
at leno'th advised the Duke of York to concede to them 
legislative franchises. The reply of James, marks the 
spirit of the man : "I cannot (says he) but suspect as- 
sembhes would be of dangerous consequence, nothing 
being more known than the aptness of silch bodies to 
assume to themselves many privileges, which prove de- 
structive to, or very often disturb, the peace of govern- 
ment, when they are allowed." The people, however, 
continued to urge their right as British subjects to a 
representation, and in October, 1683, under Governor 
Dongan, the successor of Andros, after an unwearied 
struggle of thirty years, an assembly was convened, chosen 
by the people themselves, who until this time had been 
allowed no share in the government. 



SIR KDMUXD A.VDROS. 109 

During the year 1680, Pliilip Carteret, as the depu- 
ty of Sir George Carteret, resumed the government of 
East Jersey. He was a popular chief magistrate. He 
encouraged a direct trade with England, unincumbered 
with the customs exacted by Andros at the port of New 
York. The commerce of New York was thus placed 
in jeopardy; and Andros, disregarding the patent of 
the Duke of York to Sir George, undertook to claim 
that the ships of New Jersey should pay tribute at 
New York. The people of Jersey resisted, and Car^ 
teret was imprisoned by order of Andros; but finally 
released by the verdict of a jury. Andros then at- 
tempted to intimidate the government of 'New Jersey, by 
the royal patent to the Duke. But the firmness of the 
legislature preserved her independence. While this con- 
troversy was going on, Andros had been to England and 
returned. The rights of New Jersey had been confirmed 
by the English tribunals ; and New York, presenting for 
the time the rare spectacle of free trade, as a consequence 
was left without a revenue. Andros returned to Eng- 
land, in May, 1682, and was succeeded in the govern- 
ment of New York by Thomas Dongan, in September 
of the same year.* 

The Duke of York succeeded to the throne in Feb. 
1685, under the title of James the Second ; and on the 3d 
June, 1686, appointed Sir Edmund Andros, who had 
been knighted on his return from New York, as Gover- 
nor of all the New England colonies, excepting Connecti- 
cut. Chalmers says, ^- there was a great new seal appoint- 

* Though Colonel Dongan was appointed to the government of New York 
on the 33th Sept. 1G32, he did not arrive in New York until the 27th Augusti 
16B3.— Smith, i. 66, ed. 1620. 

52 



410 SIR EDMUND ANDROS. 

ed for New England, under the administration of Andros, 
■which was honored with a remarkable motto : JYunquam 
libertas gratior extat.^^ HiimCj speaking of the colonies, 
saySj " King James recalled the charters, by which then 
liberties were secured; and he sent over governors vest- 
ed with absolute powers." 

Governor Andros arrived at Nantasket on the 19th 
December, 1686, in the Kingfisher 50 gun ship, landed 
at Boston on the 20th, and the same day published his 
commission.* "He was received," says Chalmers, *^' with 
a satisfaction in proportion only as he was less dreaded 
than Kirke."f Andros held his first Council on the 30th 
December, and commenced with fair professions; but 
soon violated them, and proved himself a fit and willing 
instrument of tyranny. He evidently entered upon the 
discharge of the duties of his office with a strong preju- 
dice a,£jainst the people of Massachusetts, and exhibited 
his arbitrary temper by removing from office the magis- 
trates under the old charter, and overturning most of the 
institutions of the first settlers of New England. 

The last records of the State, under the old charter, 
appear to be of May 12th, 1688. Such was the rigor 
of his government, that the people were universally 
dissatisfied. They despised him and his confidential asso- 
ciates. So sensible was he of this, that, by some means at 

this day unknown, he or his Secretary Randolph, des- 

♦ 

* The Commission to Andios is published, from an authentic copy, in 
Force's Tracts, vol. IV. No. 8. 

\ Colonel Kirke, afterwards so infamously distinguished by the cruelties 
which he practised upon ihe adherents cfthe ill-fated Duke of Monmouth, had 
actually been appointed in June, 168'!, by Charles II., as Governor of Massor 
chusett3, Nfjw Hampshire, Maine, and New Plymouth ; but the death of the King 
annulled the appointment. 



SIR EDMU.VD ANDROS. 411 

troyed or carried away all the records of his administra- 
tion, and there is now no trace of them, or even a single 
paper relative thereto, left in the office of the Secretary 
of State at Boston. 

Andros was authorized by his commission, to appoint 
and remove the members of his council; and with their 
consent, to make laws, impose taxes, and control the mili- 
tia of the country. He was also empowered to grant 
lands on such terms, and subject to such quit-rents, as 
should be approved by the King. The council at first 
consisted of forty or more persons, but after a short time 
a few only acted with the governor, and seven being suf- 
ficient for a board, he took care to select such as were 
likely to prove themselves his most devoted adherents. 

A series of despotic measures ensued. The press 
was placed under the censorship of his secretary and in- 
strument, the notorious Randolph. Personal liberty was 
disregarded, and none were permitted to leave the prov- 
ince without license from the governor. Magistrates 
alone were permitted to solemnize marriages, and mar- 
riages were not allowed, until bonds with sureties were 
executed to the governor, to be forfeited if any lawful 
impediment should afterwards appear. Enormous ex- 
actions were made in the shape of fees, particularly in 
matters of probate. The people were only allowed to 
vote for municipal officers; and the vote by ballot was 
abolished. And when the people of Lynn remonstrated, 
Andros told them plainly, ^^ There is no such thing as a 
town in the whole country." He gave out that all titles 
to land were annulled ; and when Indian deeds were pro- 
duced, he declared them to be " no better than the scratch 
of a bear's paw." Landholders were obliged agaia 



412 SIR EDMUND ANDROS. 

to pay for lands which ihey had quietly held for forty or 
fifty years. A tax of a penny in the pound and a poll- 
tax of twenty pence was laid. The towns generally re- 
sisted its payment; and the people of Ipswich published 
a protest against the exaction^ as being contrary to law, 
for which the most conspicuous amongst them were im- 
prisoned, and fined, one of whom was the intrepid John 
Wise, the minister of the town, who was suspended 
from his ministerial functions, fined £50, and compelled 
to give bonds for good behavior.* 

The first episcopal society in Boston had been formed 
in June, 16S6, by Edward Randolph and ten others, 
and they had obtained permission to use a room in the 
town hall for public worship. When Andros arrived, he 
determined to obtain, by favor or force, a more suitable 
place. The archbishop of Canterbury had suggested 
that one of the congregational meeting-houses might be 
obtained for episcopalian worship, by way of compromise 
with the clergy of that sect, in exchange for liberty of 
conscience. But when this proposition was made known 
to the Boston clergy, they answered with one voice, that 
they '' could not consent that any of their meeting-houses 
should be used for Common Prayer worship." They 
also refused to have their bells tolled for episcopal meet- 



* Andros, returning from an cxpodltion into Maine, in March, 16S9, calling 
upon Rev. Mr. Higjinson of Salem, inquired by " what title the colonists pre- 
sumed to hold their lands.'" Higginson replied, "by the rights of occupation 
and of purchase from the natives." Andros said "the lands were the King's, 
because he had given them only by a charter, which the colonists had violated, 
and thus forfeited." Higginson added, that "the King himself had no other 
than a Popish right to New England, but that protestants denied the validity of 
such a grant." Andros, at length, growing warm, said " Either you arc his 
subjects, or his rebels !"' — intimating that if the people would not take out new 
patents and p-^y rcnt.s, they should be treated as rebels. Felt's Annals, 290. 



SIR EDML.Nn AN DUOS. J I .^ 

ings. On the evening of December 22^ Mr. Mather and 
» Mr. Willard waited on the governor atliis lodgings, and 
'^ thoroughly discoursed his excellency about the meeting- 
houses, in great plainness, showing they could not con- 
sent to his demands." The governor, either from an un- 
willingness to wound their feelings too rudely, or from 
a fear of displaying his power too suddenly, seemed to 
say that he would not impose upon them what was man- 
ifestly so disagreeable. And so the matter was sufTered 
to rest, but for a short time only. On the 23d of March, 
1687, the governor sent Mr. Randolph for the keys of 
the south meeting house, now called the Old South, in or- 
der that the Episcopalians might have prayer there. A 
committee of six, of whom Chief Justice Sewall was one, 
thereupon waited upon his Excellency, and earnestly 
represented to him that the house was their own private 
property, and to repeat that they could not consent to 
part with it to such use as had been required. This was 
on Wednesday. The following Friday, which was Good 
Friday, Sir Edmund Andros sent to command the sexton 
of the South Church to open the doors and ring the 
bell, for the service of the Church of England. The sex- 
ton, though he had resolved not to do so, was persuaded 
or intimidated into compliance, and the Governor and 
his party took possession of the liouse, where the epis- 
copal service was afterwards regularly performed until 
he left the province.*' 

In relation to this matter, which excited so much 
feeling among the people of Boston at the time, it 
may be said, that if Andros had never done any thing 
worse than introduce the Episcopal mode of worship, 

• Greenwood's Hist. King's Chapel, Boston, p. 38. 



414 SIR EDMUND ANDROS. 

his name would not have been covered with so much 
obloquy. The Puritans of 1686, had as little charity for 
their christian brethren of the Church of England, as 
they had previously shewn for the Baptists and Quakers. 
Hutchinson mentions that this feeling was carried so far, 
that a deacon of the South Church actually interfered 
and prevented the burial of one Lilly, according to the 
form prescribed in the burial service of the Church. 
What would have been the reflections of the worthy dea- 
con, could he have foreseen, that in less-than a century, his 
own Church would be indebted to the liberality of King's 
Chapel for the privilege of worship? While the British, 
in the Revolutionary War, made use of the Old South 
for a riding school, or circus, the South congregation 
were received with welcome at King's Chapel, and min- 
gled with their Episcopalian brethren in worship at that 
sanctuary. 

On the 12th January, 1687, Andros published his 
commission at Providence, dissolved the government of 
Rhode Island, broke its seal, and assumed the adminis- 
tration. 

The colony of Connecticut, as has already been stat- 
ed, was not originally included in Andros's commission. 
Supplementary instructions were, however, issued by 
the King, under date of the 13th September, and on the 
22d of December, Governor Andros wrote to Governor 
Treat, of Connecticut, that he was " particularly empow- 
ered and authorized to receive the surrender of the char- 
ter" of that colony. 

Connecticut for sometime evaded his demands. But 
on the 13th June, 1687, he sent his Secretary, Randolph, 
to Connecticut, with a threatening message, which that 



SIR K DM I N U A N DROS. 4 1 f) 

goveriiinant disregarding, Andros, with his suite, and 
some sixty regular troops, repaired in October to Hart- 
ford, where the assembly was then in session. Appear- 
ing before that body, Governor Andros declared the 
government to be dissolved, and demanded the surrender 
of the charter. The assembly was slow to surrender 
the charter, or to adopt any motion to bring it about. 
The tradition is, that Governor Treat represented the 
great expense and hardships of the colonists, in planting 
the country; the blood and treasure which they had ex- 
pended in defending it, both against the savages and for- 
eigners; the hardships and dangers to which he himself 
had been exposed for that purpose; and that it was giv- 
ing up his life, to surrender the patent and privileges so 
dearly bought, and so long enjoyed. The important af- 
fair was debated at large, and kept in suspense until the 
shades of evening had descended, when the charter was 
brought, and laid upon the table, where the assembly 
was sitting. By this time, great numbers of people, 
sufficiently bold to undertake whatever enterprise might 
be necessary or expedient, were assembled. The lights 
were all at once extinguished, though no disorder or 
confusion prevailed; and when re-lighted, the charter 
had disappeared. William Wadsworth, of Hartford, 
stealing noiselessly through the crowd, had taken away 
the cherished patent, which he concealed in the hollow 
of an oak, which is yet standing to confirm the tale. Sir 
Edmund assumed the government, on the 31st October, 
16S7, and calling for the records of the colony, wrote 
the word "' Finis," at the close of the proceedings. 

Returning to Boston, Governor Andros continued his 
course of arbitrary measures there, and directed the ra- 



416 SIR EDMUND ANDROS. 

pacity of his Secretary to the settlements in Maine; but 
that territory had already been subjected to official pil- 
lage. In the spring of 1688, Andros, at the head of a 
body of seven hundred men, proceeded to the Penob- 
scot, against the Eastern Indians, who retired on his ap- 
proach, and his only trophy was the plunder of the house 
and fort of the Baron de St. Castine.* 

In March, 1688, a new commission was issued by the 
King, adding New York and the Jerseys to the jurisdic- 
tion of Andros, and on the twenty-eighth of July, the 
order to Governor Dongan, of New York, to deliver up 
the seal of the province to Andros, was read in the pro- 
vincial council, and placed upon the records. But an im- 
portant change in the affairs of England and her colonies 
was near at hand. 

In addition to the real grievances under which the 
people of New England labored, their fears were excit- 
ed. They believed Andros to be a papist ; that he had 
hired the Indians, and supplied them with ammunition, 
to destroy their frontier settlements ; and that he was 
preparing to betray the country into the hands of the 
French.! At the same time, the Idrge strides that King 

* In the summer of 1841, a quantity of silver coins, of different denomina- 
tions, and varying in date from 1641 to 1G82, was found at Johnson's point, 
near the site of the old fort, and residence of the Baron Casline, supposed to 
have been deposited by him and his follovi;ers near the time when his settle- 
ment was destroyed. 

i "Revolution in New England Justified," pages 29, 40. Justice to Sir 
Edmund Andros requires it to be stated in reply to the allegations in " Revolu- 
tion in New England Justified," that he sent a letter to the Justices of th« 
Court of New Hampshire, concerning trading with the Indians, whereupon it 
was, probably in pursuance of the instructions contained in it, at a private or 
special session, holden on the 28 January, 1688-9, by his Majesty's Justices, 
*' Ordered, that no person within this Province (of New Hampshire) presume 
to trade with, furnish, or supply, any Indian or Indians (particularly those of 
Pennicook) with any ammunition, instruments of war, goods, provisions, or 



SIR EDMUND ANDROS. 417 

James the Second had been making towards the estab- 
lishment of popery and despotism, excited the most 
terrible apprehensions. 

The news of the landing of the Prince of Orange 
in England, reached Boston on the 4th of April, 1689. 
Andros was so excited with alarm at the news, that he im- 
prisoned the messenger, (John Winslow,*) who brought 
a copy of the Prince's declaration to Boston, and pub- 
lished a proclamation commanding all persons to be in 
readiness to oppose " any invasion from Holland," which 
proclamation was utterly disregarded. 

The patience of the people had long since been ex- 
hausted. They now resolved upon striking a decisive 
blow. On the morning of the 18th of April, the town 
of Boston was in arms, and the people from the country 
poured in, to the assistance of the capital. The insur- 
rection was general. The citizens were unanimous in 
their determination to overthrow the existing government. 
Early in the morning, the boys were seen running along 
the streets of Boston, armed with clubs, encouraging one 
another to fight by the sides of their fathers, who were 
gathered in arms in various parts of the city. The cap- 
tain of the Rose frigate was one of the first seized and con- 
fined, and the arrest of others followed. The drums 
began to beat a general summons to the multitude to 
gather near the fort, when Andros sent a messenger re- 

any thin^ whatsoever. And whosoever can give any information of any per- 
son or persons that have already supplied and furnished the said Indians with 
ammunition, or instruments of war, they are desired forthwith to give notice 
thereof to the next Justice of the Peace, that they may be secured, and pro- 
ceeded against with all severity." Records of the Court of Quarter Sessions, 
held at Great Island, New Hampshire, in 1688-9. 

* See p. 133, of this volume. 

53 



418 SIR EDMUND ANDROS. 

questing four of the ministers to come to him at the fort^ 
to act as mediators between him and the people. The 
ministers did not consider it safe to do so, and dechned. 
By this time the muUitude had secured all the obnoxious 
persons about town, and Andros was summoned to sur- 
render.* The frigate, now commanded by its lieutenant, 
made preparations for battle, but the commander, who 
was in custody, sent him word to forbear, as all who had 
been arrested would be put to death, should he fire upon 
the people. Andros now endeavoured to escape on 
board the frigate, but his retreat had already been cut 
off by the multitude, who were approaching on both sides 
of the fort. The lower battery was deserted by the reg- 
ulars, who fled up the hill into the fort; and such was 
their panic at the appearance of the multitude before 
them, that, though the cannons were charged with grape, 
they did not fire a gun. The people marched up to the 
mouths of the cannon. Capt. John Nelson, a merchant of 
Boston, entered the fort, and made the second demand 
for Andros to surrender. Sir Edmund, finding resistance 
useless, surrendered to Capt. Nelson, and was conduct- 
ed under guard to the house of John Usher. Here he re- 
mained for a short time, until the people began to clamor 
for his imprisonment in a place of greater security. 
Nothing would satisfy them but binding the Governor 
with cords, and carrying him to a safe place. Capt. Dan- 
iel Fisher, of Dedham, whose father had suffered great 
indignity from Andros, was soon seen among the crowd, 
leading the pale and trembling Sir Edmund by the collar 
of his coat, from the house of Usher, back to Fort Hill. 
The revolution was complete. A declaration, defending 

* See pp. 385 — 367, of this volume. 



SIR EDMUND ANDROS. 419 

the insurrection, was publicly read; the old magistrates 
were reinstated as a Council of Safety ; and the venera- 
ble Governor Bradstreet was made their president. On 
the 29th May, William and Mary were proclaimed King 
and Queen at Boston.* 

Andros and his accomplices, in the meantime, re- 
mained in confinement, until the pleasure of the king 
and queen could be made known. Andros on one occasion 
managed to elude the vigilance of his keepers, and escap- 
ed, but was soon after taken in Rhode Island, and again 
conducted to prison. f On the 30th of July, William 
III. issued an order for the immediate conveyance of 
Andros, Randolph and others to England, ^^ to answer 
what may be objected against them." The order was 
not received until near the close of the year, and in Feb- 
ruary, 1690, they were sent home to England. 

In considering their case, the king was placed in an 
awkward dilemma. If he condemned the conduct of 
Andros, and sanctioned the proceedings of the colonists, 
it might be used as an argument and precedent in favor 
of future insurrections. On the other hand, to approve 
the course of Andros, and censure the acts of the people, 
would be condemning the very same course which had 
produced the revolution in England, and elevated him- 
self to the throne. J The case was therefore summarily 
disposed of. The colonists were confirmed in their 

* See Byfield's "Account of the Late Revolution in New England;" and 
" Revolution in New England Justified." [Both these rare tracts are re-print- 
ed, from originals, in the 4th volume of Force's Tracts.] Compare also Hutch- 
inson's Colony of Massachusetts Bay, 373— 3S2, and Bancroft, ii. 447. 

t Byfield, in his Account of the Revolution, says Andros attempted "to es- 
cape in women's apparel, and passed two guards, and was stopped at the third, be- 
ing discovered by his shoes, not having changed them." 

t See extracts from letter of Elisha Cooke, in Hutchinson's Colony of Mass. 
Bay, 394. 



420 SIR EDMUND ANDROS. 

rights. Andros was released^ and though generally re- 
garded as a bad man and magistrate, he still contrived to 
retain a degree of influence at home. 

In 1692, a httle more than two years after his dis- 
grace at Boston, he was appointed by William III. gov- 
ernor of the province of Virginia, in which office he 
remained until he was superseded by Nicholson, in 1698. 
Andros arrived in Virginia in Feb. 1 692. Beverly, Burk, 
and other historians of that colony, represent him to have 
been actuated in his administration by a sound judgment 
and liberal policy — to have been exact, diligent and 
methodical in the management of business, and of great 
public generosity. Beverly says he was "a great en- 
courager of manufactures. He also gave particular marks 
of favor towards the propagation of cotton, afterwards 
so much neglected. He was a great lover of method — 
caused all the loose and torn records in the public of- 
fices, which were of any value, to be transcribed into new 
books — took measures for their preservation, and for re- 
ducing them to such order that they could at once be 
referred to. The public offices were burnt in October, 
1698, just before his term of office expired, but the pa- 
pers were saved. By great diligence, he got them all 
properly arranged before he left the government. He 
made offers to rebuild the public edifice at his own ex- 
pense in part, and would have done so, had he not been 
superseded."* Whether Andros, in his last government 
in America, found a people in spirit more congenial with 
his own, or, what is more probable, had learned wisdom 
from misfortune, it is certain that few governors of Vir- 
ginia were more generally beloved. He returned to 

* Beverly, sec. 142, p. 90. Burk, ii. 316. 



SIR EDMUND ANDROS. 421 

England in 1699, was governor of the Island of Guern- 
sey, from 1704 to 1706, and died in London in Februa- 
ry, 1714, Douglas says, "at a very advanced age." He 
was 82, at the time of his death. His wife died at Bos- 
ton, according to Sewall, in February, 1688.* 

History has done no more than justice to Andros, in 
stamping him with the character of a tyrant. Oldmixon, 
in 1741, said he "was a man of as mean a character as 
fortune," and that it was a matter of amazement that 
such a man should have been continued in office after the 
revolution. Smith, the historian of New York, says of 
Andros, that " he knew no law but the will of his master, 
and Kirke and Jeffries were not fitter instruments than 
he to execute the despodc projects of James II." 

The family of Andros is one of the most ancient upon 
the Island, and descendants were living in Guernsey and 
Alderney, as late as 1798. John Andros, the ancestor 
of Governor Andros, was, from 1582 to 1607, one of the 
twelve jurats or judges, who, with the bailiff, composed 
the Royal Court of the Island — an office which contin- 
ued in some of the family name down to as late a period 
as 1705. Amice Andros, the father of Sir Edmund, was 
bailiff of the Island from 1660 to his death, on the 7th 
April, 1674, set. 64. In the inscription upon a mural 

* There is something striking in the few words of Judge Sewall's description 
of what he witnessed at Lady Andres's funeral. " Between 4 and 5, Feb. 10th, 
I went to the funeral of the Lady Andros, having been invited by the dark of 
the South Company. Between 7 and 8, (lychns [torches] illuminating the clou- 
dy air) the corpse was carried into the herse drawn by six horses, the soldiers 
making a guard from the governor's house down the Prison Lane to the South 
meeting-house ; there taken out and carried in at the western door, and set in 
the alley before the pulpit, with six mourning women by it. House made light 
with candles and torches. There was a great noise and clamor to keep people 
out of the house, that they might not rush in too soon. I went home." — MS. 
Diary of Judge Sewall. 



422 SIR EDMUND ANDROS. 

monument in the church of St. Martin'Sj Guernsey, over 
the remains of Amice Andros, Esq. he is styled " Seig- 
neur of Sausmares and Jerbourg, Hereditary Steward of 
the Islandj Lieutenant of Ceremonies in the Courts of 
Charles I. and 11., Judge of the Royal Court of Guern- 
sey, and Major General of the Forces of the Isle," &-c. 
After his death, the ofRce of bailiff was filled by his son, 
Edmund Andros, until his departure for New York, in 
August, 1674. The Seigniory or Lordship of Sausmares, 
is of Norman origin and great antiquity in the Island. 
The fief became vested in the family of Andros, by inter- 
marriages with that of Sausmares. 

The fief or manor of Anneville, granted by Henry 
VIII., to Nicholas Fachin, remained for some time in 
that family, and then descended to that of Andros, who 
possessed it in 1675. It consisted of some 27 farms and 
tenants. 

The late major general Brock, of the British army, 
who fell in the batde of Queenstown, U. C. 13th Oct. 
1812, was a descendant of the Andros family. 



END OF VOLUME FIRST. 



INDEX. 



A. 

Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, 12. 

Abigail, ship, 348. 

Acadie, settlements in, 9. Destroyed by 
the English, 198. 

Accomack, Plymoutli, 38. 

Adams, Thomas, 240. 

Acorns, settlers live upon, 246. 

Acts of trade resisted, 373. 

Adams, Helen, 137. 

Adams, John, of Plymouth, 137. 

Addington, Isaac, 386. 

Agawam. See Ipsicich. 

Agawam, "Simple Cobler of," 177. 

Aiden, John, 26, 46, 72, 109, 132, 134, 
140, 143, 156, 1.57. Notice of, 203. 

Alden, President Timothy, 203. 

Aldersey, Samuel, 240. 

Alexander, Sir William, grant to, 235. 

Alexander, son and successor of Massa- 
soit, 162. Charged with hostile inten- 
tions, 163. Arrest and sudden death 
of, 164, 166, 179. "Narrative de Al- 
exandre," 165. 

Allerton, Isaac, 26, 45. Notice of, 54. 
Assistant to the governor, 55, 65, 71, 
72, 140. 

Allerton, John, 26. 

Allerton, Mary, 54. 

Allerton, Mary Cushman, last survivor 
of the Mayflower, 46. 

AUin, Rev. John, 294, 390. 

America, Winslow's advice, as to fit per- 
sons to come over to, 108. Dudley's 
do., 281. 

Amsterdam, English puritans at, 13. 
Ships from, 279. 

AnabajTtists, persecution of, 343. Pub- 
vlic conference with, 343. 

Andover, settlement of, 378. 

Andrews, Richard, 72. 

Andros, Amice, 421, 422. 

Andros, Sir Edmund, his birth and fam- 
ily, 403. A favorite of the Duke of 
York, 403. Appointed Governor of 
New York, 403. Arrest of Capt. 
Manning, 404. Vested with large 
powers, 404. Undertakes to regulate 
religious affairs, 405. Q,uarrels with 
the Albany magistrates, 405. Re- 
quires surrender of Long Island settle- 



ments, 406. His expedition to Hart- 
ford, 406. Outmanaged by a Con- 
necticut captain, 407. Gives up his 
enterprise and returns, 408. Advice 
to King James about an assembly, 
408. Claims tribute from ships of 
New Jersey, and imprisons their 
governor, 409. Returns to England, 
and is superseded, 409. Appointed 
Governor of New England, 212, 409. 
His arrival and reception, 410. Hie 
arbitrary conduct, 385, 411 — 414. 
His letter of reproof to Gov. Hinck- 
ley, 211. Opposed by Gov. Hinck- 
ley, 214. Takes possession of the 
South Church in Boston, 413. Dis- 
solves the government of Rhode Isl- 
and, 414. Proceeds to Hartford, and 
assumes the government there, 415. 
Visits Maine, said plunders the house 
of the Baron de St. Castiiie, 416. 
New York and New Jersey added to 
his government, 416. People deter- 
mine u}X)n his overthrow, 385, 417. 
Alarmed by news of Revolution in 
England, 133, 417. Insurrection in 
Boston against, 417. Is deposed and 
imprisoned, 216, 418. Declaration 
against, 386. Is denied bail, 394. 
Escapes, and is retaken, 419. Sent 
home to England, 419. Escapes fur- 
ther punishment, 419. Governor of 
Virginia, in which his administration 
is popular, 420. Returns to England, 
and is Governor of the Isle of Guern- 
sey, 421. Death of, 421. Notices of 
his family, 421, 422. 

Andros, John, 421. 

Anecdotes of Winthrop, 248. Of Crom- 
well and Wheelwright, 288. Of the 
Pope and the Quaker, 161. Of Rev. 
Mr. Witherell, 196. 

Anneville, manor of, 422. 

Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, 359. 

Antinomians, doctrines of, 254, 319. Op- 
posed by the clergy, 255, 288. De- 
nounced by Synod at Cambridge, 257. 
Adherents banished, 257, 287, 356. 

Apannow, submission of, 57. 

Apaum, Plymouth, 45. 

Appleton, Major Samuel, 185, 188. 

Arbella, ship, 243, 267, 277. 



424 



INDEX. 



Army raised against the Nai'Kigansetts, 

185. 
Arrows, sent as a challenge, 60. 
Ashurst, Sir Henry, 218, 220. Sole 

agent of New Plymouth, 221. 
Ashley, Edward, agent at Penobscot, 

74. 
Assembly of Divines, 239, 323. 
Assistants, in New Plymouth, number 

increased, 78, 110. Powers of, 145. 

First court of, in Massachusetts, 245. 
Associates, New Plymouth, 26, 45. 
Association against wearing long hair, 

359. 
Aspinet, sachem of Nauset, 56. 
Aspinwall, William, banished, 257. 



B. 



Baldwin, Judge Henry, 232. 

Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury, 12. 

Bancroft, George, cited, 386, 401. 

Barker, Isaac, 174. 

Barnstable, or Cummaquid, 30. Under 
Massasoit, 58. 

Battle of Narragansett Swamp, 187. — 
With Pequots, 303. 

Baylies, Francis, memoirs of New Ply- 
mouth, cited, 195. auoied, 227—230. 

Beauchamp, John, 72. 

Beaver, trade in, 111. 

Bellingham, Elizabeth, 335. 

Bellingham, Penelope, 346. 

Bellingham, Richard, birth and educa- 
tion, 335. Arrives in Boston, 335. 
Deputy, assistant, and treasurer, 335. 
Johnson's notice of, 335. One of the 
military council, 286. Deputy gover- 
nor, 336. Chosen governor, 253, 289, 
336, 341. Is censured by Winthrop, 
338. Takes the part of a poor miller 
against Dudley, 338. Offends the peo- 
ple by marrying a young lady, and 
performing the ceremony himself, 339 . 
Is indicted for the offence, and sum- 
moned to answer ; but refuses, and the 
matter is dropped, 339. He is left out of 
office, 339. Takes the part of a poor 
woman against a rich neighbor, which 
sets the colony by the ears, 340. Op- 
poses persecution, 341. Charter pla- 
ced in his hands, for safe keeping, 341, 
371. Ordered to England, by the King, 
342. Evades the order, and pacifies 
the King, 343. Takes part in a dispute 
with the anabaptists, 344. Opposes 
establishment of new church in Boston, 

344. His sister hung for a witch, or 
"for having more wit than her neigh- 
bors," 344. His death and character, 

345. Notice of his family, 346. 
Bellingham, Rev. Samuel, 346. 
Bentley, Rev. William, 351. 



Bernard, Lord, 334. 

Billingsgate Point, Wellfleet, 32. 

Billington, Francis, discovers Billington 
Sea, 39. 

Billington , John , 26. Executed for mur- 
der, 83. 

Bishop, Joseph, 365. 

Blackstone, William, first settler of Bos- 
ton, 236. 

Blagge, Edward, 130. 

Blauhwaite, Mr. 205, 214. 

Board of Trade and Plantations, records 
of, cited, 400. 

Boston, first visit to, 59. Settled, 236, 
245, 247. Sachem of, 58. 

Boston Hai-bor,or Bay of Massachusetts, 
Governor Bradford's visit to, 59. 

Boyes, Antipas, 133. 

Bradford, Hon. Alden, notice of, 90. 

Bradford, Dorothy, wife of Gov. Brad- 
ford, drowned, 54. 

Bradford, Col. Gamaliel, 90. 

Bradford, Joseph, son of Gov. B., no- 
tice of, 89. 

Bradford, Mercy, 89. 

Bradford, William, his birth and educa- 
tion, 49. Joins Robinson's and Clif- 
ton's church, 49. Imprisoned, 51. Re- 
moves to Holland, 53. Accused as a 
fugitive, 53. Apprentice to a silk-dyer, 
53. Unsuccessful in trade, 53. Ac- 
companies pilgrims to New England, 
26, 53. Makes an excursion from Cape 
Cod Harbor, 28, 53. Sick when store 
house was burnt, 38. His wife drown- 
ed, 54. Chosen Governor of New 
Plymouth, 54, 140. Sends an embas- 
sy to Massasoit, 55. Sends party to 
Nauset, to recover a boy, 56. Anoth- 
er to Bay of Massachusetts, 59. Re- 
ceives a threatening message from Can- 
onicus, 60. Make.s a voyeige for corn, 
&c., 62, 63. Sends message to Mas- 
sasoit in his sickness, 64. Receives 
intelligence of a conspiracy of the In- 
dians, 64. Adopts measures of defence, 
65. Negotiates with the adventurers 
in England, 71. Surrenders the pat- 
ent to the colony, 74. His death, 79. 
His character, 79, 80. His history of 
the colony recovered by Rev. Dr. 
Young, 80. Part of his letter-book 
found at Halifax, and published, 80. 
Other compositions, 81, 82. His dis- 
creet course towards offenders, 83. De- 
cisive proceedings with Lyford aaid 
Oldham, 85—87. Notices of his de- 
scendants, 88—92, 151. 

Bradford, William, son of Gov. B., no- 
tice of, and of his descendants, 88 — 91, 
165, 185, 214, 226. 

Bradford, Hon. William, of R. I., notice 
of, 91. 



INDEX. 



425 



Bnulfbril's Hisldry, rocovirud Ity Rev. 

A. Voiin;^, bl). 
Biiulstrei't, Anne, piH'in of, 295, 388. 
Bradstrcet, Dudley, .SS.'), 3S!). 
Bnidstreet, Simon, l)iitli and education, 

377. Ill tlie family of the Earl of 
Lincoln, 377, and of the Counte.sn of 
Warwick, 378. Marries the daugh- 
ter of Governor Dudley, and come.^i to 
New Enu;land in the fleet witli Win- 
throp, 378. Settie.s at Newtown, 283, 

378. Signs declaration jigainst wear- 
ing long hair, 35'J. Secretary of the 
colony, 378. One of the military 
council, 286. Visits Dover, to settle a 
dispute, 379. Commissioner of the 
United Colonies, 379. More liberal 
in principle than his associates, 380. 
Oiiposes the witchcraft delusion, 381. 
Treats with settlers of Maine, 382. 
Defends the rights of the colony, 382. 
Sent to England as an agent; is success- 
ful, but censured by the colonists, as 
having yielded too much, 383. Coun- 
sels submission to the King, as the 
wisest course, 384. Chosen governor, 
and is in office when James II. dissolves 
tlie charter, 384. Named as counsel- 

■ lor under Dudley-, but refuses to act, 
385. A leader of the people on the 
overthrow of Andros, 385. His sum- 
mons to Andros to surrender, 385. Is 
again in the chair of state, 387, 419. 
His death and character, 387. Inscrip- 
tion on his tomb, 387. Notices of his 
descendiints, 388 — 389. 

Bradstreet, Rev. Simon, 388, 389. 

Braintree, settlement of, 236. 

Brattle, Thomas, 133, 381. 

Brenton, Admiral Jahleel, 229. 

Brenton, Gov. William, 229. 

Brereton, John, at Cape Cod, 22. 

Brewster, Elder William, 24,26, 45, 54, 
68, 72, 92, 140, 174, 175. 

Brewster, Fear, 54. 

Brewster, Patience, 173. 

Brewster's Islands, 367, 374. 

Bridges, Robert, 359. 

Britterige, Richard, 26. 

Brooke, Lord, 269. 

Browne, John, 240, 350. 

Brown, Peter, 26. 

Brown, Robert, a zealous separatist, 11. 

Browne, Samuel, 240, 350. 

Brown, William, 386. 

Budington, Rev. William I., 388. 

Bull, Capt. Thomas, his resistance of 
Andros, 406. 

Burial Hill, in Plymouth, 41, 92. Forti- 
fied, 61. Artillery planted on, 61. 

Burdet, George, 378. 

Burnet, Bishop, cited, 333. 

Burnet, Gov. William, 389. 

54 



Bushheag, a Warnnoke or Weatfield In- 
dian, 309. 
Butler's lludil)ras, cited, 84. 

c. 

Callendor, John, cited, 56. 

Cambridge, Synod at, 256. 

Camden, William, "Ilemaines" cited, 
294. 

Canada, first settlement in 9. River of, 
404. 

Canonicus, messenger from, with hostile 
message, 60. 

Capawock, Martha's Vineyard, 58. 

Cape Amie, plantation at. 111, 238. Re- 
moval to Salem, 236, 238. 

Cape Cod discovered by Gosnold, 22. 
Explored by Pilgrims, 29, 93. 

Cape James. See Cape Cod. 

Careswell, in Marsh field, seat of Gov. 
Wiiislow, 131. Named from a castle 
in SUiffordshire, 131. 

Carleton, Sir Dudley, on the Sabbath in 
Holland, 14. 

Carpenter, Alice, 88 

Cartaret, Sir George, 409. 

Cartaret, Philip, 409. 

Carver, Elizabeth, 46. 

Carver, Jasper, 46. 

Carver, John, appointed agent to the En- 
glish settlers at Leyden, 13, 15, 17. 
Superintends the equipments for emi- 
gration, 19. Chosen governor of the 
company, 25, 54, 140. Makes an ex- 
cursion from Cape Cod to look for a 
harbor, 32. Skirmish with the natives, 
34. Lands on Clark's Island, 35. Re- 
turns to the ship, 36. Makes a set- 
tlement at Plymouth, 37. His sick- 
ness, 38. His recovery and visit to 
Billington Sea, 39. His interview 
with "Massasoit, 44, 94. His death, 
46, 92. His character, 47, 48. Hi.s 
posterity, 46. His sword and other 
relics preserved, 48. 

Carver, Jonathan, the traveller, 47. 

Carver, William, 47. 

Castine, Baron de St., 416. 

Cattle, first brought into New England, 
109. 

Caiiubatant, submission of, 57, 58, 103, 
103. 

Cawnacome, sachem of Manomet, sub- 
mission of, 57, 58. 

Centennial feast, at Plymouth, 63. 

Ciiarity, arrival of ship, 61, 109. 

Charles I., 76, 201, 247, 324. Beheaded, 
325, 335, 349. 

Charles II., 162. Letter of, to New Ply- 
mouth, 168. Rye-lmuse plot iigainst, 
206. Restoration of, 332, 33.3, 360, 
372, 382, 403. Mandamus of, for- 



426 



INDEX. 



bidding flirther persecution of dua- 
kers, 358. 

Charlestown, first settled, 236, 245, 280. 
First Court at, 378. Church estab- 
Ushed at, 245. 

Charter, efforts of New Plymouth to ob- 
Uiin, 192. Of Connecticut, 192. Of 
New Plymouth, 119. New, of Massa- 
chusetts, 226. 

Chichester, Earl of, 315. 

Chikkatabak, submission of, 57, 58. Vis- 
its settlers, 246. 

Child, Maj. John, 124. His "New En- 
gland's Jonas," 126. Winslow's 
"New England's Salamander," in an- 
swer, 127. 

Child, Dr. Robert, notice of, 124, 262. 

Chilton, James, 26, 132. 

Chilton, Mary, first female who landed 
from the May-flower, 132, 135. 

Christian Charity, Winthrop's "Modell 
of," 267. 

Chronicles of the Pilgrims, Young's, 
cited, 82. 

Church, Major Benj. 90, 185, 188, 189, 
218. 

Church, first in Charlestown and Boston, 
245. At Plymouth, proposed remo- 
val of, 151. Records of, 173. At Sa- 
lem, founded, 350. 

Clap, Capt. Roger, cited, 246. 

Clare, Earl of, 334. 

Clarendon, Lord, his character of Vane, 
254. 

Clark, Nathaniel, counsellor of Andros, 
imprisoned, 216. 

Clarke, Richard, of Plymouth, 26. 

Clark, Richard, of Boston, 135. 

Clark, Thomas, 371. 

Clark's Island, pilgrims at, 35. Given 
away by Andros, and reclaimed, 216. 
Described, 216. 

Cleaves, 247. 

Cleveland, Duke of, 334. 

Clifton, Rev. Richard, 12, 49. 

Clopton, Thomasin, 268. 

Clopton, William, 268. 

Coddington, William, 286. 

Codfish in Cape Cod harbour, 22. 

Coggan, John, 268. 

Coins found at Johnson's point, near 
old fort Castine, 416. 

Cold Harbor, in Truro, 30. 

Cole's Hill, in Plymouth, 41. 

Collier, Mary, 174. 

ColHer, William, 90, 143, 166, 174. 

Commissioners, Royal, visit New Ply- 
mouth, 167. Their favorable report, 
168. Visit to, and reception of, in 
Mass. 342, 360. Of United Colonies, 
request of, to Rhode Island, to ex- 
pel Quakers, 161. Answered by 
Rhode Island, 161. 



Committee of Safety, Parliamentary, 332. 
At Boston, on the expulsion of An- 
dros, 419. 

Common House, at Plymouth, 37, 38, 

Community of goods, 17, 69. 

Compact of the Pilgrims, 25. 

Conant, Roger, settles Cape Anne, 238. 

Confederation of N. E. Colonies, 119. 
Articles of, 120. Re-organized, 171. 

Congregational Church, first in America, 
230. 

Connecticut, explored by Winslow, 113. 
Settlement of opposed by Winthrop, 
113. Trading house at, 113. Threat- 
ened resistance of the Dutch, 114. 
Disturbances at, 141. First house in, 
148. Settlement of, 269, 300. Char- 
ter of, 192, 269. Emigration from 
Newtown to, 300. Sufferings of set- 
tlers, 305. Constitution established, 
306. First governor of, chosen, 307. 
Visited by Andros, 406. Submits to 
Andros, 414. Charter of,concealed, 415. 

Cooke, Elisha, 220, 386, 419. 

Cook, Francis, 26. 

Cook, Joseph, 312. 

Copford Hall, 297, 311. 

Copley, John S., 135 

Coppin, Robert, pilot, 32, 34. 

Copp's Hill, in Boston, visited, 59. 

Corbett, Abraham, arrest of, 371. 

Corbitant. See Caunljatant. 

Corlet, Elijah, 390. 

Corn. See Indian Corn. 

Cotta Island, 364. 

Cotton, Rev. John, of Boston, 127, 257, 
265, 276, 288, 289, 297, 367. 

Cotton, Rev. John, of Plymouth, 129, 
146, 221. 

Cotton, John, Esq., 171. 

Council of Plymouth established, 9, 
70, 235. Charter of, surrendered to 
Charles I. 76. 

Council of State, in England, 325, 331. 

Council of War, in New Plymouth, 176. 

Counsellors, under Andros, 214. Under 
Massachusetts charter, 226. 

Courts, established at Plymouth, 75. 

Coytmore, Thomas, 268 

Coytmore, Martha, 268. 

Crackston, John, 26. 

Cradock, George, 348. 

Cradock, Matthew, 236. Governor of 
the Massachusetts Company in Eng- 
land, 239. Notice of, 348. 

Cromwell, Ohver, 64, 129, 324,326, 382. 
Expedition against West Indies, 130, 
270. Anecdote of, 288. 

Cromwell, Richard, 327, 328, 329, 330. 
Abdicates, 331. 

Cross, cut from the flag at Salem, 353. 

Crown Point, expedition against, 199. 

Cudworth, General James, 153. Notice 



INDEX. 



427 



of, 154, IGl, 178, 202, 203, 208. 

Cuniina(|uid, Biirnstable, [yH. 

Ciishnuui, RoI.ert, 15, 17, 1'.), 109. Ar- 
rives in ilie Fi)riune, 139. 

Cults, Lord, 39G. 

D. 

Dalton, Samuel, 379. 

Danforth, Tliomns, 371, 38C, 394. 

Diircy, Frajicis, 314. 

Darcy, Thomas, 314. 

Darlington, Earl of, 334. 

Davenport, Capt., 185, 187, 190. 

Davenport, Rev. John, 344. 

Davis, Benjamin, 137. 

Davis, Judge John, cited, 129, 171, 213, 
294. 

Davis, Mary, 137. 

Declaration of Rights in New Plymouth, 
first in America, 144. In Massachu- 
setts Bay, 382, 383. 

Deer trap, 28. Mr. Bradford caught in, 
29. 

Delfthaven, parting at, 20. 

Denbigh, Baron of, 274. 

Dennison, Gen. Daniel, notice of, 295. 

Dermer, Capt. Thomas, cited, 43. 

Dexter, Thomas, of Lynn, 352. 

Discovery, ship, 61. 

Discussion, public, on toleration, propos- 
ed by Roger Williams, 169. Declined 
by Gov. Prence, 170. 

Divines, Assembly of, 239, 323. 

Dongan, Gov. Thomas, of N. Y. 408, 
409, 416. 

Dorchester Company, at Cape Anne, 
361. 

Dorchester, Lord, 240. 

Dort, Synod of, 14. 

Dotey, Edward, 26. Punished for duel- 
ling, 85. 

Dover, riotous proceedings at, 379. 

Downam, John, 128. 

Downing, Emanuel, 388. 

Drake, Samuel G. 43. His Book of In- 
dians cited, 179, 189, 246. 

Drury, John, 128. 

Dubuc, Jemima, 136. 

Dudley, Ambrose, 274. 

Dudley, Anne, 295, 278, 388. 

Dudley, Deborali, 296. 

Dudley, Edmund, 273. 

Dudley, Lord Guilford, 274. 

Dudley, John, Duke of Northumberland, 
273. 

Dudley, Joseph, his birth and education, 
390. Early employments, 390. In 
Narragansett campaign, 391. Issentas 
agent to Enicland, 391. His intrigues, 
392. Appoiiued President of New 
England, 392. Is superseded by An- 
dres, made president of his Council, 



and chief justice, 393. Haled by the 
people, and imprisoned on tlie over- 
throw of Andros, ;}93, 394. His suf- 
ferings in prison, 395. Is denied bail, 
and ordered to be sent to England for 
trial, 394. Conciliates the royal favor, 
anil is made chief justice of New 
York, 395. Is superseded, and goes a 
third time to England, 396. U de- 
puty governor of the Isle of Wight, 
and Member of Parliament, 396. 
Supplmits Sir William Phips, and 
returns as governor of Massachusetts 
and New Hampshire, 396. Cluarrela 
with the assembly in Massachusetts, 

396. Complains of democracy of the 
people, 397. Negatives counsellors, 

397. VisittoPemaquid,398. Confer- 
ence with eastern Indians, 398. The 
friend of Harvard College, 399. Su- 
perseded by Gov. Shute, 399. His 
administration popular in New Hamp- 
shire, 400. Assistsihe Huguenots, 401. 
Death and character, 401. Notice of 
his family, 402. 

Dudley, Mercy, 296. 

Dudley, Patience, 295. 

Dudley, Hon. Paul, 397, 402. 

Dudley, Paul, 296. 

Dudley, Robert, Earl of Leicester, 274. 

Dudley, Capt. Roger, 275. 

Dudley, Thomas, his birth and early 
employments, 273. Someof his family 
claim descent from the Duke of Nor- 
thumberland, 273. In the family of 
the Earl of Northampton, 275. Cap- 
Uxin in French service at the siege of 
Amiens, 275. Becomes steward to the 
Earl of Lincoln, 276. One of the 
original undertakers of Massachusetts 
Colony, 242, 277. Arrives in the fleet 
with Winthrop, 244, 277. Chosen 
deputy governor, 277. Letter to the 
Countess of Lincoln, 277—282. Set- 
tles at Newtown, 283. Is censured 
for building a good house, 283. Mis- 
understanding with Winthrop, 253, 
283. Attends to religious services in 
absence of the Pastor, 284. Chosen 
governor of Massachusetts Bay, 284, 
289, 290, 298. One of the Military 
Commission, having power of life and 
limb, 286. One of the council for life, 
287. Opposes the heresy of Anne 
Hutchinson and others, 287. An ene- 
my of toleration, 263, 293. Appointed 
major general, 290. Removes to Ips- 
wich, and to Roxbury, 291. Death 
of, and character, 291, '292. Epitaph, 
by himself, 293. Notice of his family 
and descendants, 294—296, 318, 340, 
.3.59, .377,. 378, 380, 388. 

Duel, fust in Plymouth ,puni»hmentof,65. 



428 



INDEX. 



Duelliiir^ how punished in New Ply- 

moiuri, 85. 
Dugdale, William, cited, 273. 
Dutch of New York, controver.sy of 

Massachusetts with, 299. 
Dwight, Dr. Timothy, cited, 92, 230. 
Dyer, Mary, quakeress, hung, 358. 

E. 

Eastern Indians, war with, 218. Trea- 
ties with, 398. 

Eastham, settlement of, 150. 

Eaton, Francis, 26. 

Eaton, Theophilus, 240. 

Election, annual, in New Plymouth, 144. 

Eliot, Rev. John, 128, 129, 207, 284. 

Elizabeth Islands, 38. 

Elizabeth, Glueen, 274. 

Ellet, Peter, 405. 

Emigrants to America, advice to, 108, 
281. 

Emigration to New England, motives 
for, 238, 241. To Connecticut, 300. 

Endecott House, in Salem, 361. In Bos- 
ton, 361. Farm, in Salem, 3G1. In 
Concord, N. H., 361. 

Endecott, John, the realfounder of Mas- 
sachusetts, 347,362. Born in Dorset- 
shire, England, and bred a chirurgeon, 
347. One of the original purchasers of 
Massachusetts, 239, 378. Governor 
of the plantation, 240, 243, 278, 348, 
349. Arrives at Salem, 348. Forms 
military company, 349. Cuts down 
May-pole at Mount Wollaston, 349. 
Is supersededby Winthrop, 350. As- 
sistant, deputy governor, and major 
general, 350. Forbids Church of Eng- 
land worship, and sends episcopalians 
home, 351. Orders veils to be worn 
by women at church, 352. His quar- 
rel with Dexter, of Lynn, 352. One 
of the military council, 286, 353. Cuts 
the cross from the flag, 317, 353. Is 
suspended from office, 353. Defends 
Roger Williams, and is imprisoned ; 
recants, and is released, 354. Com- 
mands an expedition against Pequots, 
354. Chosen governor for fifteen 
years, 355. Inexorably hostile to sec- 
taries, 355, 357. Approves persecu- 
tion of the Cluakers, 357. King's 
mandamus to, 358. Joins association 
against wearing long hair, 359. Firm- 
ness in resisting royal encroachments, 
359, 361. Death of, 361. Character, 

362. His houses in Salem and Bos- 
ton, 361. Notices of his descendants, 

363, .366. 

Endecott, John, son of Gov. E., notice 

of, 363. 
Endecott, William P., 362. 



Endecott, Zerubabel, son of Gov. E., 
notice of, and of his descendants, 363- 
366. 

Englishmen, three, executed for murder, 
149. 

English, Thomas, 26. 

Epenow. See Jlpmmow. 

Episcopalians, toleration of, 342. First 
society of, in Boston, 412. Opposi- 
tion to, 414. 

F. 

Fachin, Nicholas, 422. 

Fairfax, Sir Thomas, 302. 

Famine, at New Plymouth, 61, 67, 68. 

Fane, Henry, 313. 

Fane, John, 313. 

Fane, Richard, 313. 

Farmer, John, and Moore, J. B., "Col- 
lections" of, cited, 205. 

Fast at Charlestown, 245. 

Felt, Rev. Joseph B., cited, 387, 412. 

Fifth Monarchy men, idea of, 333. 

First offence in Plymouth, 83. 

First purchasers, or undertakers, names 
of, 72, 347. 

Fisher, Daniel, 418. 

Fishing, at Cape Cod, 22. At Ply- 
mouth, 27, 36. 

Flag, the royal, defaced at Salem, 317, 
355. 

Fletcher, governor of New York, 395. 

Fletcher, Moses, 26. 

Flint, Thomas, 359. 

Flynt, Rev. Henry, cited, 376. 

Force, Peter, his Collection of Tracts re- 
ferred to, 123, 177, 281, 385, 410, 419. 
MSS. in hbrary of, 172, cited, 400. 

Forefather's Rock, account of, 36. 
Forefather's Day, 36. 

Fort, of Narragansetts, taken, 186. Wil- 
liam Henry, 199. 

Forts, in Nova Scotia taken, 198. Of 
Pequots, 303. 

Forth, John, 268. 

Forth, Mary, 268. 

Fortune, arrival of, 60. Passengers by, 
67. 

Foster, John, 386. 

Fowle, Thomas, 127. 

Foxcroft, George, 240. 

Fox, Rev. George, 358. 

Freeman, Edmund, Jr. 173. 

Freeman, John, 174. 

Freemen, qualifications of, 75, 144. Oath 
of, 290. 

French Protestants, in Oxford, 400. 

French settlements, driven from Maine, 
371. 

Fuller, Edward, 26. 

Fuller, Samuel, 22, 26, 140. 

Furs, trade for. See Beaver. 



INDEX. 



429 



G. 

Gallop, Cnpt. Jolin, 18'), 190. 

Giinliier, Ann, widow, .SM8. 

Gardner, Cajit. Jcscpli, 185, 190, 388. 

Gardiner, Richard, 2G. 

Gedney, Bartholomew, 386. 

General Fundamentals, declaration of, in 
New Plymouth, 7G, 146. 

Gerrits, John, 405. 

Gibbons, Edward, 368. 

Gibson, Elizabeth, 363. 

Gilbert, Nathaniel, 364. 

Glover, Elizabeth, 270. 

Glover, Hon. John, 231. 

Glover, Nathaniel, 231. 

Glover, widow Mary, 231. 

Golle, Thomas, 236. Deputy governor, 
239, 240. 

Goldsmith, Ralph, 358. 

Goldsmith's Hall, meeting of commis- 
sioners at, 129. 

Goodman, John, 26. 

" Good News from New England," quo- 
ted, 101, 107. 

Gorges, Sir Ferdinando, 43, 70, 115. 
Grant to, 235, 240. Connected with 
the family of Lincoln, 276. Sells his 
grant of Maine, 372, 381. 

Gorges, John, marries Frances, daughter 
of Earl of Lincoln, 276. 

Gorges, Capt. Robert, 76. Grant to, 
235. 

Gorham, Capt. John, 185, 190. 

Gorton, Samuel, 122. Enthusiast, 123. 
His "Simplicity's Defence," 123. His 
letter to Morton entire in Force's 
Tracts, 123. Cruelly persecuted, 123. 
E. Winslow's answer to, 124, 153. 

Gosnold, Bartholomew, discoverer of 
Cape Cod, 22. 

Gospel, society for propagation of, in N. 
E., 128,207. 

Gover, Anna, 363. 

Government instituted in New Ply- 
mouth, 144 — 146. 

Governor, powers and duties of, pre- 
scribed in New Plymouth, 145. Re- 
quired to reside at Plymouth, 152. 

Grampus Bay, 33. 

Grantees of Massachu.setts, 240. 

Gray, Edward, 91, 133, 152. 

Gray, Siirah,91. 

Great Meadow Creek, Truro, 34. 

Greene, Gardiner, 361. 

Greene, Samuel, 172, 385, 386. 

Grey, Sir Edward, 273. 

Grey, Lady Jane, 274. 

Griffin, ship, 201,297. 

Grimsby, in Lincolnshire, 51. 

Griswold, Gov. 232. 

Groundnuts, settlers live upon, 246. 

Gurnet, 35. 



II. 

Hackburne, Mrs. Catharine, 294. 

Hackburnc, Samuel, 294. 

Hair, Association iigainst long, 359. 

Hale, Sir Matthew, 345. 

Hamilton, Marqui.s of, 70. 

Hampden, John, 64, 101. 

Harley, Ca]>t. 58. 

Harlow, Capt. 58. 

Harrison, Gtneral, the enthusiast, 270. 

Hartford, settlement of, 301. 

Harvard College, 259,376. 

Harwood, George, 240. 

Hatherly, Timothy, 72, 153. Notice of, 
154,202,203. 

Haynes, John, birth and education, 297. 
A man of fortune, 297. Arrives in the 
Griffin, with Rev. Mr. Cotton, and 
others, 297. Chosen governor of Mas- 
sachusetts the second year after he ar- 
rives, 287, 298. One of the military 
council, 286. Superseded Ijy Vane, 
299. Complains of Wiiithrop, 250. 
Removes to Connecticut, 302. Ac- 
companies Uncas to Boston, 306. 
Chosen first governor of Connecticut, 

307, and is often chosen afterwards, 

308. Active in bringing about the 
confederation, 308. In danger of 
perishing in a storm, 309. Attempt to 
assassinate, 309. His religious views 
more tolerant after leaving Massachu- 
setts, 310. Death of, and character, 
311, 312. Notices of his family, and 
descendants, 311, 312. 

Henry, L, anecdote of, 359. 

Henry IV., 275, 400. 

Henry, VII., 273. 

Henry, VIII., 237, 273, 313, 42L 

Herrings used as manure, 46. 

Hibbins, Anne, widow of Wm. H, ex- 
ecuted for witchcraft, 344. 

Hibbins, Wilham, 344, 359. 

Higginson, Rev. John, 412. 

Hilton, William, 139. 

Hinckley, Ebenezer, 231. 

Hinckley, Mercy, 231. 

Hinckley, Samuel, 201. 

Hinckley, Samuel, son of Gov. Hinck- 
ley, 231. 

Hinckley, Hon. Samuel, 232. 

Hinckley, Thomas, birth and education, 
202. Arrives in the Griffin, 201. Set- 
tles at Barnstable, 202. Several years 
a deputy, 203. Chosen deputy gov- 
ernor, and governor, 203. Goes with 
the popular current, 203. Cultivates 
the favor of Randolph, 205. An active 
sujijiorter of the plan of extending the 
Gos])el among the Indians, 207. " His 
account of tlie Christian Indians, 207. 
Account of Narragansett difficulties, 



430 



INDEX. 



183. Rigid in his religious views, 208. 
Earnest to prevent profanation of the 
Sabbath, and to provide for support of 
religiou.s worship, 208, 209. A friend 
to free schools, 209. Enforces laws, 
laying taxes for support of ministers, 
and is admonished therefor by Ran- 
dolph, 210, and by Andros, 211. Sub- 
mits to Andros, and accepts a seat in 
his council, 211. Disapproves his 
despotic measures, 214. Lays com- 
plaints before the King, 215. Re- 
assumes government, on overthrow of 
Andros, 217. Attempts to procure a 
charter, but is discouraged', 220, 222. 
Prefers union with Massachusetts to 
annexation to New York, 225. One 
of the first counsellors under the new 
charter, 226. Death of, and character, 
2.31. Notices of his descendants, 232. 
His manuscripts, 232. 

" Hinckley's Law," 208. 

Hinckley Papers, 208, 232. 

Hingham, dispute at, 259. Citizens of, 
fined, 260. 

History of New England, Winthrop's, 
editions of, 266. 

Hitchcock, Rev. Gad, 196. 

Hobart, Rev. Peter, 89. 

Hobbamock, or Hobomok, takes up his 
residence at Plymouth, a true friend 
to the English, 58, 64, 65, 101. 

Hobby, Sir Charles, 396. 

Hocking, , killed at Kennebeck, 

142. 

Holdrip, Richard, 130. 

Holland, Lord, a descendant of Vassall, 
229. 

Holland. See Loiu Counlnes. 

Holies, Elizabeth, daughter of Earl of 
Clare, 334. 

Holies, Gilbert, Earl of Clare, 334. 

Hollis, John, Duke of Newcastle, 197, 
315, 334. 

Holmes, Rev. John, 89. 

Holmes, Lieut. Wm. 114. Notice of, 
148. 

Honeywood, Sir Robert, 315. 

Hooker, Rev. Thomas, 291, 298, 300. 

Hopkins, Edward, Governor of Con- 
necticut, 308, 309. 

Hopkins, Oceanus, born, 22. 

Hopkins, Stephen, son of, born at sea, 
22, 26. Notice of, 28, 55, 85, 94, 140. 

Hopkins, Stephen, governor of R. I. 28. 

House lots laid out at Plymouth, 37. 

Houses, building of, at Plymouth, com- 
menced, 37. 

Howes, Jeremiah, 174. 

Howe, the miller, case of, 338. 

Houchin, Elizabeth, 363. 

Houchin, Jeremy, 363. 

Howlandj Artliur, 174. 



Howland, John, 26. Notice of, 46, 72. 
Hubbard, Rev. Wm., cited, 163, 267, 

284, 345. 
Hudibras, Butler's, quotation from, 84. 
Hudson, Hannah, 375. 
Hudson, Ralph, 375. 
Hudson's River, pilgrims sail for, 22 ,23. 
Huguenots, in Massachusetts, 401. 
Humphrey, John, 240, 244,276, 277, 286. 
Hunt, Capt. Thomas, the kidnapper, 42, 

43, 56. 
Hunt, Wm. 91. 
Hutchinson, Anne, 253, 254, 257, 287, 

288, 291, 318. Banished, 356. Her 

belief, 319, 337, 380. 
Hutchinson, Edward, 368. 
Hutchinson, Gov. Thomas, cited, 80, 
. 110, 214, 243, 299, 373, 375, 390. 
Hutchins, Thomas, 240. 
Huttamoiden, submission of, 57. 



Independence, an object of the puritans, 
24, 144. 

Indian Corn , first found, 29. Indian mode 
of storing, 29. Taken from the Indians, 
30. Twenty acres planted, 46. Seed 
corn taken from the Indians paid for, 
56. Sixty acres of, planted, 61. Pro- 
cured at Namasket and Manomet, 63. 

Indians, first sight of by pilgrims, 28. — 
Seen around a grampus, 33. Encoun- 
ter with, 34. Destroyed by pestilence, 
40, Kidnapped by Hunt, 43. Taken 
by Weymouth, 43. Submission of 
to King James, 45. Embassy to, 55. 
Submission of ninesachems,57. Peace 
with Aspinet, 56. Seed corn taken 
from, paid for, 56. Conspiracy among, 
64. Conspiracy crushed by Standish, 
66. Namascheucks, 96. Hospitality 
of, 100. Pequots commence hostili- 
ties and are destroyed, 148, 303 — 305. 
Narragansetts refuse to join them, 148. 
Supposed plot with the Dutch, 370. 
Executed for murder of John Sausa- 
man, 181. Narragansetts make war, 
182. War declared against by United 
Colonies, 183. Commissioners go with 
the army, 390. Number of Christian, 
in New Plymouth, 207. War with 
Eastern, 218. Order against furnish- 
ing arms to, 416. Lands of, regulation 
respecting purchase of, 168, 348. 

Instructions, to Gen. Winslow, 184. To 
Gov. Endecott, 348, 351. 

Ipswich, Agawam, 32, 412. 

J. 

James I., grant to Council of Plymouth, 
9. Hostility to the Puritans, 12. Dis- 



INDEX. 



431 



likes Sir Edwin Sniitlys, IG. Refuses 

toleration, 243, 313. Indian Aliegiiuice 

to, 4r>, 57. 
James II., 1:2:3, 206. Proclaimed at New 

Plymouth, 211. Addressed by New 

Plymouth, 207, 211. Proclaimed in 

Boston, .392, 403, 408, 400. 
Jamaica, surrender of, 1.30. 
Johnson, Edward, cited, 33.'), 347, 371. 
Johnson, Isaac, 23C, 240, 242, 276. 
Johnson, Lady Arbeila,27G. 
Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 136. 
Johnson, Captiiin Lsiuic, 185, 187, 190. 
Jones, Captain, of the Mayflower, 19. 

Plot ascribed to, 23, 29, 30, 39, 61. 
Jones, Maigaret, executed for witchcraft, 

345. 

K. 

Keayne, Major Benjamin, 296. 

Keayne, Captain Robert, 296. 

Keekamuit, seat of Massasoit, 56. 

Kennebeck patent, 54. Pilo;rims trade 
at, 72, 111. Disturbances at, 142, 
144. Governmentorganized,151. Pa- 
tent sold, 133. 

Kent, Chancellor, 232. 

King, EdM-ard, 133. 

King's Chapel, Boston, 414. 

Kingfisher, ship of war, 410. 

Kirke, Colonel, 410, 421. 

Knight, Walter, 361. 

Knollys, Hanserd, 378, 379. 



Laconia, grant of, 235. 

Lands of Indicms, regulations respect- 
ing purchase of, 168, 348. 

Larkham, Thomas, 379. 

Latham, Robt. 133. 

Laud, Archbishop, 12, 115. Winslow 
heard before, 116. Sends Winslow to 
prison, 117,201,247, 297, 313, 323, 
412. 

Laws of New Plymouth, established and 
defined, 77, 118, 143. Revisions of, 
147. Different editions of, 172. 

League ^\^th Scotland, 324. 

Leavitt, Christopher, 76. 

Le Baron, Dr. L. 92. 

Leddra, William, quaker, hung, 357. 

Legatists, party called, 287. 

Leicester, Earl of, 274. 

Leisler, Jacob, 405. 

Leister, Edward, 26. Punished for du- 
elling, 88. 

Lenox, Duke of, 70. 

Leverett, Anne, 367. 

Leverett, Hudson, 375. 

Leverett, John a native of Lincolnshire, 
367. A merchant in Boston, 368.— 



Major General of the colony, .368. On 
an embassy to Mianlonomoh, 368, 
370. Goes to Eni;land, and eng.iges in 
the service of parliament, 370. Returns, 
and is chosen Sjieaker of the House, 370. 
Commander of forces 371. In an ex- 
]iedition against French, 371. Again 
visits England, 371. Returns and is 
chosen governor of MaFsacliusetts,371. 
Inquires into disputes at Dover, and 
Portsmouth, 371. His visits to Maine, 

372. Refuses to enforce the royal acts 
of trade, 373. Knighted by Charles II., 

373. Death of, 374. CharacteV, 373— 
375. Grants to, 367, 374. Noticesof 
his family, 375, 376, 296. 

Leverett, Rev. John, notice of, 375. 

Leverett, Mary, 296, 375. 

Leverett, Sarah, 375. 

Leverett, Elder Thomas, notice of, 367, 

375. 
Lewis, Alonzo, History of Lynn, cited, 

59. 
Leyden, pilgrims at, 13, 93. 
Ley, Lord, 320. 
Liddell, Sir Thomas, 315. 
Lincoln, Countess of, Dudley's Letter to, 

277, 377. 
Lincoln, Theophilus, Earl of, connection 

of his family with New England, 276. 
Lisle, Viscount, 273. , 
London Company. See Virginia Com- 
pany. 
Long hair, association against, 359. 
Long Island, sul)mission of, to Andros, 

406. Allowed representation, 408. 
Loring, Commodore, 136. 
Lothrop, Barnabas, 202. Notice of, 214, 

226. 
Lothrop, Benjamin, 202. 
Lothrop, Rev. John, 201. Notice of, 

202. 
Lothrop, John, 202. 
Lothrop, Joseph, 202. 
Lothrop, Samuel, 202. 
Lothrop, Thomas, 202. 
Loudon, Lord, 199. 
Louis XIV., 400. 
Low Countries, reason for removing 

from, 14. 
Ludlow, General, Memoir of, cited, 330. 
Ludlow, Roger, notice of, 298. 
Lusher, Eleazar, 371. 
Lyford, John, 85, 86,. 87, 110. 
Lyon's Whelp, sliip, 351. 

M. 

Maine, settlements in, subjected to Mas- 
sachusetts, 370, 372. Purchase of, by- 
Massachusetts, 372, 381, 382. 

Mandamus of Charles IL, 162, 358. 

Manisses, Block Island, 88. 



432 



INDEX. 



Mannamoyck, Cliathani, G2. 

Manning, Captain, 404. 

Manomet, sachem of, 58. 

Margeson, Edmund, 26. 

Mariana, grant of, 23.'). 

Marlborough, Earl of, 320. 

Marriages, first in New Plymouth, 
94. Solemnized in New Plymouth 
and Massachusetts by magistrates, 117. 

Marshall, Capt. 185, 190. 

Martin, Christopher, 26. 

Mary, aueen, 237, 274. 

Mason, Capt. John, grant to, 235. 

Mason,' Captain John, the warrior, 185. 
Notice of, 302. 

Mason, John, 302. 

Mason, Hon. Jeremiah, 302. 

Massachusetts Bay, grant of, 236. Oi'i- 
ginal purchasers of, 236. ' Explored 
by pilgrims, 59. Government of, 
transferred to New England, 236, 
242. Patent of, 236, 349. Names of 
grantees, 240. Original design, 242, 
349. Company in London, 241, 244. 
London's plantation in, 241,349. Tol- 
eration not granted, 243. Rejected, 
257. Distress of settlers in, 248. 
Charter placed in safe keeping, 341. 
Spirit of people noticed in England,360. 
Q-uo warranto against, 205. Contro- 
versy of, with Gorton, 122. Complaint 
against by Dr. Child, 124. Purchases 
territory of Maine, 372. Militia first 
organized in, 374. Records of, des- 
troyed or carried away, 411. 

Massasoit, 43. Description and enter- 
tainment of, at New Plymouth, 44. 
Treaty with, 44. Acknowledges sub- 
jection, 45. Visit to, 55. Friendly 
"to the English, 57. Sick, 63. Visited 
by E. Winslow and John Hamp- 
den, 64, 101. With his son renews 
the league with Pilgrims, 73. Visited 
by Winslow and Hopkins, 94. His 
entertainment and speech, 98. Visit- 
ed by Standish and Allerton, treats 
them with groundnuts, 45. Wins- 
low's account of visit to, in sickness, 
101. Reported death of, 102. Re- 
ception by, 104. Tended by Wins- 
low, 105. Recovers, 106. Anecdote 
of, 114. Death of, 162. 

Mather, Dr. Cotton, cited, 82, 220, 224, 
261, 267, 345, 367, 373, 374, 395. 

Mather, Rev. L, cited, 163, i20, 224, 
225, 394, 413. 

Mattapciset, in Swansey. See J\Iatta- 
puyst. 

Mattapuyst, in Swansey, residence of 
Caunbatant, 58, 229. 

May, Dorothy, 88. 

Mayflower, ship, 19, 21. Birth on board 
the, at sea, 22, 23. Peregrine White 



born on board the, 31. Sails for Eng- 
land, 46. Last survivor of, 46. 

Mayhew, Rev. Experience, 231. 

Mayhew, Rev. Dr. Jonathan, 128, 207. 

May, Mr. father of Dorothy, wife of 
Gov. Bradford, 54. 

Mayo, Nathaniel, 174. 

Medford, or Mystic, settled, 280. 

Meeting-houses, towns required to build, 
210. 

Meitiwacks, Long Island, 404. 

Merchant adventurers, agreement with, 
17. Interest of purchased, 54. 

Merrymeeting Bay, 151. 

Merry Mount, 55. Name of, changed 
by Endecott to Mount Dagon, 349. 

Metacomet, son of Massasoit. See 
Philip. 

Miantonomoh, sachem of the Narragan- 
setts, 303. Embassy to, 368. JDes- 
cription of, and his visit to Boston, 369. 

Military Commission, extraordinary 
powers of, 286, 336. 

Military rank in New Plymouth, 176. 

Militia, first organized, 374. 

Milton, John, his sonnet to Vane, 326. 

Monahiggon, or Monhegan, Winslow's 
visit to, for provisions, 100. Planta- 
tion at, broken up, 111. 

Monckton, Col. 198. 

Monk, General, 332. 

Monks of Malaga, liberate Indians, 43. 

Monmouth, Duke of, 372, 410. 

Montgomery, Gen. Richard, 134. 

Mooanam, son of Massasoit, 73. 

Moody, Hannah, 135. 

Moody, Rev. Joshua, 135. 

Mortality, of the Pilgrims, 39, 41. 

Morton, Nathaniel, cited, 23, 24. Me- 
morial, 81. Goiton's letter to, 123, 
202, 292. 

Morton, Thomas, 84. Sent home a pris- 
oner, 87, 115. Charges of, against 
Winslow, 117. 

Mosely, Capt. Samuel, 185, 187. 

Mount Hope, residence of Massasoit, 
56, 92. Granted to New Plymouth, 
204. Claimed by Massachusetts, 192, 
204. Claimed also by John Crown, and 
by Rhode Island, 193, 204. 

Mount Wollaston, 349. 

Mourt's Relation, authors of, 82. 

Mullins, Priscilla, 109, 203. 

Mullins, William, 26, 203. 

Murder, punished, 149. 

Muscongus lands, Leverett's title to, 366. 

N. 

Namascheucks, 96. 

Namasket, 58. Winslow and Hopkin.1 

at, 95. Winslow and Hampden lodge 

at, 101. 



INDEX. 



433 



Namskeket Creek, 34. 

Nanepasliemet, ^rave of, 59. 

Naiitz, ediit of, 400. 

Narragansetts, cliallens^e from the, 60. 
Answered, iiO. Make war against the 
English, lS-2. Brief narrative of the 
war with, 183. Their forts taken by 
the Enghsh, 186. Betrayed by Peter, 
187. Great numbers slaiti, 190. Trea- 
ty with, 391. 

Nfirrative de Alexandr9, 165. 

Natawanute, Windsor, Conn. 114. 

Naltawahunt, submission of, 57. 

Naumkeag, Salem, 347. 

Nauset, Eastham, 34, 41, 42, -56, 58, 
150. 

Neal, Daniel, 243, 254. 

Nelson, John, 418. 

Neponset, JMilton, Sachem of, 58, 246. 

Newcastle, Duke of, 197, 315, 334. 

New England, patent for, 9. Grant to 
Plymouth colonists, 70. Scheme of 
general government in, 76, 115. Pro- 
ject fails, 116. Confederaiioii of colo- 
nies in, 119. Wintlirop's Hist. of,266. 
First Englishman born in, 31. Un- 
reasonable expectations respecting, 108, 
281. Winslow's Narration ofGrounds 
of Planting, 124. Episcopacy in, 84, 
351. Establislied in, 412. Seal of, un- 
der Andros, 410. 

New English Canaan, by Thomas Mor- 
ton, 84. 

Newcomen, John, 83. 

New Jersey, resistance of to Andros, 
409. 

New London, 148. 

Newman, P^^ev. Antipas, 363. 

Newman, Widow Elizabeth, 363. 

New Plymouth, introductory note, 9. 
First settled, 37, 38. Pilgrims arrive 
at, 22. Rock and place of the landing 
at, 36. Conclusion of pilgrims to set- 
tle there, 37. Buildings commenced at, 
37. Burial Hill fortified at, 61. Sa- 
moset at, 41. Weston's colony at, 61. 
Trading vessels at, 61. Settlers of, ap- 
ply for a patent, 70. Grant of, in the 
name of John Pierce, and others, 70. 
Colonists purchase rights held in Eng- 
lemd, 72. Colonists open trade at 
Kennebeck, Penobscot, Connecticut, 
72. Grant of, and tract on the Kenne- 
beck, 72. Courts established at, 75. 
First assembly in, 75. Declaration 
of rights, 76, 144. Laws estab- 
lished in, 77, 118, 143. Records of first 
church in, 80, 173. First offence in, 
83. Duel at, 85. Parlies punished, 
85. Supplies obtained at eastward, 
100. Condition of in 1624, 111. Plen- 
tiful hai-vests. 111. Invited by the 
Dutch and Indians to settle on the 

55 



Connecticut, 112. Colonists build 
trading house at Connecticut, 113. 
Opposed by the Dutch, 114. En- 
croachments on by French and Dutch, 
115. Body of laws for, formed, 118. 
Colonists more tolerant than those of 
Massachusetts, 118. Sell landsonthe 
Kennebeck, 133. Lands jiurchased of 
Indians, 150. Proposal to remove ilie 
town, 151. Laws against Cluakers, 
158, 159. New Charter sought for, 
192, 203. Union of, with Massaclui- 
setts proposed, 204. Numberof Chris- 
tian Indians in, 207. James II. pro- 
claimed at, 211. Counsellors under 
Andros, 214. Q.uietly submits to An- 
dros, 212. Resumes its aiuuent privi- 
leges, 215 Petitions the King, 215. 
Declaration of the Gen. Court, 217. 
Condition of the colony of, 219. Re- 
newed efforts of, for charter, 219. 
Grants to agents, 221. Want of means 
to obtain charter, 222. United, with 
Massachusett.^:, 223. Last General 
Court of, 227. Condition of the 
colony of, when annexed, 227 — 230. 

Newtown, Cambridge, settled, 245, 247, 
283, 285, 286. Settlers emigrate to 
Connecticut, 300. 

New York, surrender of, to the English, 
403. 

Nianticks, or Nyantics, 302, 370. 

Nicholls, Judge, 275. 

Northampton, Earl of, 273, 275. 

Nortlmmberland, Duke of, 273, 274. 
Earl of, 320. 

Norton, Humphrey, 155. Abusive let- 
ter of, to Gov. Prence, 156. 

Norton, Rev. John, 383. 

Nova Scotia", expedition against, 198. 

Nowell, Increase, 240, 268, 284, 286, 359. 

o. 

Oakes, Thomas, 220, 397. 

Oaths, Winslow's opinion of, 130. Form 
of freeman's, 290. 

Obbatinnua, sachem of Shawmut, sub- 
■mission of, 57, 59. 

Olfice, penalty for refusing, 78. Not 
sought after, 140. 

Ohquamehud, a Wampanoag, submis- 
sion of, 57. 

Old Colony Club, 92. 

Oldham, John, 85, 86, 87, 110. 

Oldmixon, 330, 403, 421. 

Old Plymouth, 38. 

Old South Church, Boston, 413. 

Oliver, Capt., 185. 

Original purchasers of Massachusetts, 
347. 

Orne, Timothy, 361. 

Owsamet^uin. See Massasoit. 



434 



INDEX. 



P. 

Pamet, Truro, 58. 

Paomet Creek. See Cold Harbour. 

Parris, Arthur, 133. 

Pascataqua, 66. Settled by David 
Thompson, 67, 149. 

Patents, 16, 20, 54, 70, 72, 73, 74, 240, 
404. 

Patents, of New England, 9, 10. See 
Pilgrims, AdWJ PlijmoiUh, and Massa- 
chusetts Bay. 

Pawtucket, 149. 

Patuxet, Plymouth, 38. Squanto, only 
surviving native of, 43. 

Pelhani, Edward, 197. 

Pelham, Herbert, notice of, 196, 339. 

Pelham, Penelope, wife of Gov. Bel- 
lingham, 339. 

Pelham, Penelope, 196, 197, 200. 

Pelham, Sir Thomas, 315. 

Pelham, Thomas, 197, 339. 

Pemaquid,397,404. 

Penn, Admiral, 130. 

Penobscot, 72. Patent, 74. 

Pepperell, Sir Wm., 90. 

Pequot, New London, 304. 

Pequots, 73, 88, 114. Expedition agamst, 
147. Volunteers from Plymouth 
against, 148. Country of, 148. Des- 
truction of, 302. 

Perry, Richard, 240. 

Persecution, of the pilgrims, 12,50. Of 
the auakers, 153, f62, 177, 208. Of 
Anabaptists, 177,257,356. Of Epis- 
copalians, 351. 

Pestilence, among the Indians, 40. 

Peter, a Narragansett, betrays his coun- 
trymen, 187. 

Peters, Hugh, 251,379. 

Phihp, son of Massasoit, 162. Suc- 
ceeds Alexander, 165. Causes of war 
with, 165. Appears at Plymouth, 167. 
Refuses to treat except with the King, 
180. Prepares for war, 180. War 
with commenced, 165, 181. His forts 
taken, 187. Death and character of, 
191. 

Philpot, the martyr, 237. 

Phips, Sir William, 224. Arrives with 
new charter of Massachusetts, 226, 
387. Arrested and supplanted by 
Dudley, 396. 

Pierce, John, 70, 71. 

Pilgrim Hall, ai Plymouth, 92. 

Pilgrims, persecuted in England, 11. 
Form separate church, 12. Resolve 
on flight to Holland, 12. Their lirst 
attempt prevented, 50. They are im- 
prisoned, 51. Second attempt, 51. 
Remove to Amsterdam and Leyden, 

13. Contemplate removal to America, 

14. Reasons J 14. Obtain a patent 



from the London Company, 16. Ar- 
rangements of, for leaving Holland, 17. 
Agreement of, with the merchant ad- 
venturers, 18. Hard conditions, 19. 
Embark at Delfthaven, 20. Ships of, 
put back, 20, 21. Speedwell dismissed, 

21. Sail again, 21. ' Descry Cape 
Cod, 22. Stand for Hudson River, 

22. Put back to Cape Cod harbour, 

23. riot against, 23. Compact be- 
fore landing, 24. Objects of the com- 

.pact, 24. Subscribe the compact, 26. 
Examine the coast, 27. Choose John 
Carver governor, 25. Excursion of, 
under Miles Standish, 28. Their first 
$ight of the natives, 28. Their dis- 
coveries, 29. Second expedition of, 
29. Indian graves, &c., discovered 
by, 31. Consult about place of set- 
tlement, 31. Third expedition of, 32. 
Are exposed to intense cold, 32. First 
encounter of, with Indians, 33. Sail 
along the shore, 34. In great danger, 
35. Laud on Clark's Island, 35. At 
Plymouth, 36. Lay out house-lots 
and commence building, 37. Name 
their settlement Plymouth, 37. Store- 
house of, burnt, 38. Two of, lost in 
the woods, 39. Great mortality among 
the, -39. Receive Samoset, 41. And 
other Indians, 42. Secure the friend- 
ship of Massasoit, 57. Accessions 
to, by the Fortune, 60. Put on short 
allowance, 60. Menaced by the Nar- 
rag insetts, 60. Fortify the town, 60. 
Famine of, 61. Plant sixty acres of 
corn, 61. Supplied by Captain Jones, 
61. Their sufferings described, 67. 
Pint of corn divided among, 68. 
Abandon their system of community 
of goods, and prosper, 69. See Mw 
Plymouth. 

Pinchion, William, 240, 286. 

Plaindealing, estate of, in Plymouth, 133, 
152. 

Plymouth Church, 151, 173. 

Plymouth Colony. See JVezo Plymouth. 

Plymouth Company, 9. In Maine, 133. 

Plymouth Harbor explored, 23. Pil- 
grims arrive in, 22. Fish and fowl 
abound in, 27. 

Plymouth Rock, 36. 

Pocasset, squaw-sachem of, 162. 

Pokanoket, extent of, 55. Expedition 
to, 95. ' 

Pollard, Col. Benj., 136. 

Pope, the, and the duaker, anecdote of, 
161. 

Population of New Plymouth in 1624, 
110. 

Powows^ Indian, 40. 

Prence, Thomas, a native of Gloucester- 
shire, 139. One of the original under- 



IIS'DE,\, . 



435 



takers of New Plymoutli, 72. Comes 
over in the Fortune, 139. Cliosen 
Governor of New Plymouth, 141. 
Raises n company of vohinteers against 
the Pequots, 147. A second time gov- 
ernor, 118. Prompt punishment" of 
murderers, 149. Makes a settlement 
at Eastham, 150. Organizes govern- 
ment at Kennebeck, 151. Again 
chosen governor, and re-elected six- 
teen years. 78, 152. Removes to Ply- 
mouth, 133, 152. His place of resi- 
dence, 152. Rigid against sectaries, 
153, 178, 208. Proscribes those who 
are tolerant, 154. Punishes the Qua- 
kers, 155. Is bitterly denounced by 
them, 156. Approves laws for their 
disfranchisement, 158. Apology for, 
159. Guards against appreliended at- 
tacks of Indians, 162 — 167. Inter- 
course with the Ro3\^l Commissioners, 
167. Secures their favorable report, 
and approbation of the King, 168. Is 
invited by Roger Williams to discuss 
the question of religious freedom, 169. 
Declines, 170. Introduces free schools 
into the colony, 170. His efforts to 
provide for support of ministry, 173. 
Noted for his integrity, 171. Death 
of, and character, 173. Notices of his 
descendants, 173, 174. 

Prentice, Capt. Thomas, 185. 

Priest, Degory, 26. 

Prince, Rev. John, 174. 

Prince, John, 174. 

Prince of Orange, declaration of, brought 
by John Winslow, 133. 

Prince, Samuel, 231. 

Prince, Rev. Thomas, 174. 

Prince, Thomas, cited, 24, 26, 80, 231, 
266, 267. 

Providence Plantations, 122. 

Puritans, relics of, preserved, 92, 200. 

Puritans, the first settlers, 11. At Am- 
sterdam, 13. Of England, in power, 
125. Their object independence, 24, 
144. See Pilgrims. 

Q. 

Q,uadequina, brother of iVIassasoit, 44. 
Submission of, 57. 

Q.uakers, 153, 155. Laws against, in 
New Plymouth, 158. Character of 
first, 160. Anecdote o^the Pope and 
one of the, 161. Banished on pain of 
death, 162, 357. Persecution of, 15.3 — 
162, 177, ~08. Persecution of ended 
by mandamus of Charles IJ., 162, 358, 
3&3. They become peaceful citizens, 
162. Toleration of, 342. Severe laws 
against, in JVIassachusetts, 356 — 357. 
Executed in Boston, 357. 



Q,ucen Anne, 396, 398, 399. 

dueen Elizabeth, death of, 9. 

Gluincy, Pres. J., cited, 225, 259, 376, 

399. 
Q,uinnipiack, New Haven,*304. 

R. 

Raby Castle, 320. 

Rainsburrow, Col., 270, 370. 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, 9. 

Randolph, Edward, 192, 205,206,373, 
387,393,394, 410, 411, 413, 419. 

Ranters, laws against, 158. 

Rattlesnake's skin, sent with arrows to 
the Plymouth settlers, 60. 

Records 'Plymouth Church, cited, 173. 

Representative body, origin of in Massa- 
chusetts, 285. 

Revolution in New England, 385, 393, 
417. 

Reyner, Elizabeth, 89. 

Reyner, Rev. John, 89. 

Reynolds, captain of the Speedwell, 19. 
Puts back twice, and ship abandoned, 
21. 

Rhode Island, 122. Excluded from the 
League, 125, 161. Tolerance in, 161. 
Requested by Commissioners of Uni- 
ted Colonies to expel duakers, 161. 
Answer of, and refusal, 161. Submits 
to Andros, 414. 

Richards, Alice, 89. 

Richards, Major John, 386, 391. 

Richards, Mary, 231. 

Rich, Lord, 3ll. 

Ridgdale, John, 26. 

Robertson, William, cited, 358. 

Robinson, Isaac, 178. 

Robinson, Rev. John, 12. Goes over to 
Holland, 13. His parting letter to 
Carver, 13. Present at embarcation of 
Pilgrims, 20. Remains at Leyden, 
notice of, 20, 49, 66, 87, 93, 109, ,178, 
201. 

Robinson, Thomas, letter of respecting: 
Vane, 327. 

Robinson, William, quaker, executed, 
357. 

Rock, Forefather's, account of, 36. 

Rogers, Rev. Mr., 289. 

Rogers, Thomas, 26. 

Rose, frigate, 382, 417, 418. 

Roswell, Sir Henry, 236, 238, 240. 

Rouse, John, 1.55. 

Roxbury, settlement of, 280, 281. 

Ruling eiders, 350, 367. 

Rump Parliament, 324. 

Russell, James, 312. 

Russell, N. 92. 

Russell, Sir William, 320, 

Ryehouse plot, 206. 



436 



INDEX. 



S. I 

Sabbath, first Christian in New England, 
35. Regulations for observance of in 
Mass. 351. 
St. Clair, Gen. 134. _ j 

St. Domingo, Expedition against, 130. 
Salem, settlement of, 347. Church es- 
tablished at, 350. Military company 
formed, 348. Resolution of town of, 
392. 
Salstonstall, Sir Richard, 236, 240, 241, 

242,340,359,378. 
Samoset, description of, and reception at 
Plymouth, 41, and of his Indians, 42. 
Instructs the settlers how to plant corn, 
45. 

Sandys, Sir Edwin, 13. Notice of, 15, 
24. 

Saquish, in Plymouth Harbor, 35, 199. 

Sassacus, sachem of the Pequots, 303,305. 

Saugus, Lynn, 280. 

Sausaman, John, 164. Reveals hostile de- 
signs of, and is killed by Philip's In- 
dians, 181. 

Sausmares, Seigniory of, 422. 

Savage, Elizabeth, 135, 346. 

Savage, James, cited, 250, 261, editor of 
Wmthrop, 267,292, 299,374. 

Say and Sele, Lord, 142, 269, 276, 300. 

Seafowl abundant at Cape Cod, 27. 

Seal of New England under Andros, 410. 

Secretary of New Plymouth, 146. 

Sedgwick, Gen. Robert, 371. 

Seily, Capt. 185, 190. 

Sequassen, a sachem, 309. 

Sergeant, John, 380. 

Sergeant Major General, 290, 350. 

Serlo, Norman bishop, again.st long hair, 
3.59. 

Settlements in Canada, &c.,9. 

Sewall, Chief Justice, 402, 413, 421. 

Sewall, Samuel, 402. 

Schools established in New Plymouth, 
170, 209. 

Scituate, settlement of, 201, 2G2. 

Sharpe, Samuel, 281. 

Shattock, Samuel, 358. 

Shawmut, Boston, .sachem of, 58, 245. 

Sheafe, Sampson, 400. 

Shirley, James, 72, 74. 

Shirley, Gen. William, 90. 

Shrimpton, Samuel, 386. 

Shute, Gov. Samuel, 399. 

Sickness, Indian customs in, 101, 104. 

Slade's Ferry in Swansey, 102. 

Slanev, John, 43. 

Sloughter, Gov. of New York, 220, 223, 
395. 

Smith, John, Capt., 28, names Plymouth, 
37. History and map of New Eng- 
land, 38. betests Hunt, the kidnap- 
per, 43, 



Smith Laurence, 231. 
Smith, Richard, 403. 
Smith, Sir Thomas, 15, 16. 
Snow, Mark, 174. 
Soule, George, 26. 
Southampton, pilgrims leave, 20. 
Southcoat, Thomas. 2o9, 240. 
South Church, Loston, 412, 414. 
Southworth, Constant, 88, 89, 90. 
Southworth, Nathaniel, 133. 
Southworth, Thomas, 88 89, 151. 
Sowams seat of Massasoit, 56. 
Spain. See United Proxinces. 
Sparhawk, Rev. John, 137, 361. 
Sparrow, ship, 61. 
Speedwell, tonnage of the, 19. Puts back, 

20. Dismissal, 21 . 
Squanto, or Squantum, history of, 43, 

44, 45, 55, 56. Death of, 62, 95, 97. 
Squaw sachem of Massachusetts, 59. 

OfPocasset, 162. 
Standish, Capt. Miles, 26. Military 
commander at New Plymouth, 28, 
176. Heads an excursion along Cape 
Cod, 28. Goes to meet Massasoit, 
44, 45, 58, 62. Expedition against 
Indians at Weymouth. 65, 66. Visits 
Pascataqua, 67, 72. Attacked by Old- 
ham, 86, 140, 141, 148, 170. 
Standish, Miles, Jr., 1.33. 
Stephens, Major Gen. Ebenezer, 134. 
Stephenson, Marmaduke, quaker, hung, 

357. 
Stockbridge, Dr. 199. 
Stone, Rev. Samuel, 298, 300. 
Stone, a West Indian, takes a Plymouth 
bark at Connecticut, which is retaken 
by Dutch sailors, 142. 
Stonington, 148. 

Storehouse at Plymouth, 37, 38. 
Stoughton, Capt. Israel, 304. 
Stoughton, William, 386. 
Straflfbrd, Earl of, 314, 322, 323, 330,333. 
Stuyvesant, Gov., supposed plot of, with 

Indians, 370. 
i^uckiaug, Hartford, 301. 
Sunckquasson, sachem, 302. 
Sunday in Holland, 14. 
Swamp Fight, Narragansett, 186. 
Swan, arrival of the, 61. 
Synod, at Cambridge, 256. 

T. 

Tailer, Lieut. Gov. William, 389. 
Tarratines, Eastern Indians, 59. 
Taunton river, pestilence on, 96. 
Tax for the support of the clergy, 210, 

For fortifying Newtown, 285. 
Taylor, Ann, 132, 135. 
Ten Hills Farm, 264. 
Thompson, David, 67, 111. 
Ticonderoga, 199, 



INDEX. 



437 



Tilden, Nathaiiifl, 202. 

Tilly, Edward, 26,28. 

TillV, John, 26. 

Tiiidul, Sir John, 268. 

Tindal, Margaret, 268. 

Tinker, Thomas, 26. 

Tisquantuni. See Squanto. 

Toleration, want of in En<:;Iand, l."), 243. 
In Holland, 13. In New Plymouth, 
125 ; which Winslow laments, 126. 
Denounced, 177. 

Tracy, John, 174. 

Trade opened on the Kennebeck and 
Connecticut, 72, 74, 111, 112. Wins- 
low engaged in, 112. 

Treat, Major Robert, 185. Governor of 
Connecticut, 415. 

Treaty with Massasoit, 44. 

Trumbull, Rev. Benjamin, cited, 312. 

Trumbull, Gov. Jonathan, 267. 

Turner, John, 2G. 

Tyng, Edward, 402. 

Tyng, Rebecca, 402. 

u. 

Uncas. sachem of the ^^ohegans, assists 
English against Pequots", 304, 306, 
309 

Underbill, Captain John. 378. 

Undertakers, or first purchasers, names 
of, 72, 277. 347. 

Union of New Plymouth with Massa- 
chusetts Bay, 204, 223. 

United Provinces and Spain, truce be- 
tween, 16. 

Upham, Rev. Charles Wentworth, cited, 
319,327,330. 

Upham, Lieut. Pliinehas, 190. 

Usher, John. 400, 418. 

Utrecht, treaty of, 398. 

Uxbridge, treaty of, 324. 



Vane, Sir Christopher, Lord Bernard, 
334. 

Vane, Sir George, 314. 

Vane, Sir Henry, the elder, 313, 314. 
Notice of, 314, 315. 

Vane, Sir Henry, birth and descent, 
313 — 315. Education, 315. Embraces 
the doctrines of the dissenters, 315. 
Emigrates to New England, 316. Is 
chosen governor of Massachusetts 
Bay, 254, 299, 316. Espouses the' 
cause of Anne Hutchinson, 288, 318. 
Is superseded by Winthrop, 319. Con- 
troversy with, 320. Returns to Eng- 
land, 320. Appointed Treasurer of 
the Navy, and elected to Parliament, i 
320. Knighted by Charles I., 320. In 
Long Parliament, 321. One of Com- I 



mi.ssioncrs for Now England, 125. 
Opposes the King, 321. His tigency 
in the attiiinder and death of the Earl 
of Strafford, 322. Attends Assembly 
of Divines, '323. Arranges League 
with Scotland, 323. Is on commis- 
sions to treat with the King, at Ux- 
bridge, »fcc., 324. Withdraws from 
Parliament, and takes no part in trial 
and execution of Charles 1., 325. One 
of the Council of State, 325. Plans and 
dn-ects the brilliant naval enterprises 
of England, 326. Opposes conduct 
of Cromwell, and is imjjrisoned, 327. 
Again in Parliament, 327. His re- 
ported speech, said to have over- 
whelmed Richard Cromwell, 328— 330. 
The speech probably a fiction, 330. 
Active in Parliament, 331. President 
of Council of State, 331. Joins the 
army against the Parliament, 332. 
One of the Council of Officers, and of 
Committee of Safety, 332. Ordered by 
Parliament into custody, 332. Ex- 
cepted from pardon by Charles II., 
and sent to the Tower, 332. Executed 
on Tower Hill, 333. His character, 
and opinions, different accounts of, 
321,333. His estates and honors res- 
tored to his family, 334. Notice, of 
his descendants, 334. 

Vane, Sir Henry, knight at Poictieurs, 
313. 

Vane. Gilbert, 2d Lord Bernard, 334. 

Vane, Howell ap, 313- 

Vane. Sir Ralph, 313. 

Vane, William iiarry, Duke of Cleve^ 
land, 334. 

Vassall. Samuel. 210. 

Vassall. William. 124. Character of, 
126. 202. 240, 262, 263. Lord Hol- 
land, a descendant of, 229. 

Veils, adopted for women in the church, 
352. 

Venables, Gen., ISO. 

Ven, John, 240. 

Vermaes, Benjamin, 89. 

Vincent, Sir l'"ran''is, 315. 

Vines, Richard, 124 

Virginia Company, 9, 15. Pilgrims ap- 
ply to, 15. Grant a patent, in name 
ofWincob, 16. 

Virginia, settlement of, 9. 

w. 

Wadsworth, William, 415. 

Waldo, Lucy, lo6. 

Waldo, Gen. Samuel, 1^6,368. 

Waliey.MajorJohn, notice of 214, 2£6. 

Wampanoags, 41. Hostile to Gov. J. 

Winslow, 184. SeeJ\Iuisasoit,Jll€xan- 

der, and Philip. 



438^ 



I?fDEX. 



Wamsutta, son of Massasoit. See ^Alex- 
ander. 
Ward, Rev. Nathaniel, of Agawajm, 
177. 

.Waranoke Indians, plots of, 309. 

Warren, James, 200. 

Warren, Joseph, 91. 

Wurren,Men:'V, 91. 

Warren, Richard, 26. 

Wanvick, Countess of, 378. 

Warwick, Dudley, Earl of, 274. 

Warwick, Earl of, 9, 70, 125, 240, 377. 

Waterhouse, David, 386. 

Waters, Asa, 89. 

Watertown, settlement of, 280, 281. 

Watts, Capt. 185. 

Welde, Rev. Thomas, 257. 

WentworUi, Sir Thomas, 322. See Earl 
of Strafford. 

Wequash, an Indian, betrays the Pequots 
303. 

Wessagussett. See Weymouth. 

West, Francis, Admiral, 76. 

West Indies, failure of Cromwell's expe- 
dition against, 129. 
' Westminster, treaty of, 403. 

Weston, Thomas, agreement with, 16, 17. 
Notice of, 20. His plantation at Wey- 
mouth, 61. Character of, 65, 84. 
His people dispersed, 66. 

Weymouth, Capt., 43. 

Weymouth, settlement of, by Weston's 
colony, 61, 235. Indian conspiracy 
against, 64. Settlers at, disorderly, 
65. Abandoned, 66. Execution at, 
84. 

Wheelwright, Rev. John, 255. Banished, 
257. Notice of, 288, 291, 319. 

Whetcomb, Simon, 239, 240. 

White, Joanna, 199. 

White, Rev. John, 236, 238. Notice of, 
239. 

Wliite, Peregrine, 31, 94, 200. 

White, Roger, 54. 

White, Susanna, 31, 94. 

White, William, 26, 31, 94. 

Whiting, Joseph, 309. 

Wight, Isle of, treaty of, 324. 

Willett, Francis, 166. 

Willett, Col. Marinus, 166. 

-Willett, Capt. Thomas, 163. Notice of, 
166. 

William III., proclaimed, 393, 419. 

William Henry, fort, 199. 

Williams, Roger, asks satisfaction for 
the natives of Pawtucket, 149. Pro- 
poses public 4iiscussion of religious 
principles, 169. Declined by Gov. 
Prence, 170. 291, 292. Letter of, 310. 
Arrives in Salem, 352. Influence of, 
353. Attempts to silence, 354. Ban- 
ished, 354. 

Williams, Thomas, 26. 



Wilson, Rev^. John, first minister of Bos- 
ton , 245. Electioneering for Winthrop, 
256, 284. 

Wincob, John, patent in name of, 16. 

Windsor, Conn., settled, 300. 

Winslow, Edward, father of Gov. W., 
93, 132. 

Winslow, Edward, his birth and educa- 
tion, 93. Travels on the continent, 93. 
Joins Robinson's Church, 93. Settles 
at Lej^den, and marries, 93. Removes 
to America with his family, 26, 93. 
One of the discoverers of Plymouth 
Harbour, 93. Death of his wife and 
second marriage, 31, 94. His visit to 
Massasoit, 44, 55, 95—100. His voy- 
age to Monahiggon, 68, 100. His 
second visit to Massasoit in the tiijie 
of his sickness, 64, 101—106. Sent 
to England as agent for the Colony of 
New Plymouth ,l06. Publishes "Good 
News from New England," or a nar- 
rative of the transactions of the colony, 
107. Returns to Plymouth, and brings 
the first neat cattle brought to New 
England, 109. His second voyage to 
England, 109. Detects Lyford, and 
returns to Plymouth, 87, 110. Elected 
assistant, 87, 110. Voyage to Kenne- 
beck. 111. Narrow escape at, 112. 
Trades with the Dutch at New Net,h- 
erlands, 114. Reported death of, 115. 
Again sent as agent to England, 115. 
Application to the commissioners of 
the colonies, 116. duestioned by 
Archbishop Laud for celebrating mar- 
riages, 117. His defence, 117. Pro- 
nounced guilty of separation from the 
Church, 117. Committed to the Fleet 
Prison, 117. Petitions the board, and 
obtains a release, 117. Returns to 
New Plymouth, and chosen governor, 
78, 118, 140. Chosen commissioner 
of the United Colonies, 119. Agent 
of Massachusetts to England to answer 
the complaint of Gorton, Child and 
others, 122. Conducts with ability 
and success, 125, 263. His publica- 
tions in London, 107, 124, 127, 128. 
Engaged in colonizing and converting 
the Indians, 128. One of the corpora- 
tion for that purpose, 128. A com- 
missioner vmder Danish treaty, 129. 
One of the commissioners sent by 
Cromwell on an expedition against the 
Spaniards, 130. Dies on the passage 
to Jamaica, 131. Buried with the 
honors of war, 131. His settlement at 
Marshfield, 1.31. Notices of his de- 
scendants, 131—138, 143, 175. 

Winslow, Rev. Edward, notice of, 136. 

Winslow, Elizabeth, 94, 131. 

Winslow, Gilbert, 26, 137, 



INDEX. 



439 



Winslow, Gen. Isaac,, son ")f Gov. Josias i 
W., notice of, and ol" liis descendants, 1 
197—199. I 

Winslow, Isaac, 135, 136. I 

Winslow, John, brother of Gov. Ed- 
ward W., notice of, and of his descen- 
dants, 13-2—134. 

Winslow, Gen. John, son of Isaac W., 
notice of, 198, 199. 

Winslow, Gen. John, notice of, 134. 

Winslow, Joshua, 135. ■ 

Winslow, Josias, birth and education, 
175. Early in public employment, 
175. Succeeds Stand ish. as military 
chief, 176. Commissioner of the 
United Colonies, 176. Commander in 
chief of the forces, 176. His toler- 
ant pnnciples, 177, 208. Chosen 
Governor of New Plymouth, 178. 
Restores those who had been pro- 
scribed for their opinions, 178. Ar- 
rests the sachem Alexander, 163, 166. 
Commands in the war with Phili)i, 

183, 374. AVampanoags seek his life, 

184. Instructions to, from the com- 
missioners, 184. In the great Narra- 
gansett fight, 186—190. Health im- 
paired by the campaign, and resigns, 
192 203. Grant to by the colonies, 
192! Character of, 194, 195. Death 
of, 195. Notices of his descendants, 
196—200.^ 

Winslow, Kenelm, brother of Gov. W., 
notice of, 137. 

Winslow'S publications — " Good Newes 
from New England," 107. " Rela- 
tion," &,c., 108. " Hypocrisie Un- 
masked," 124. " Briefe Narration," 
124. "The Danger of Tolerating 
Levellers," 124. '• Glorious Progress 
of the Gospel among the Indiana," &c. 
128. 

Winslow, Susanna, 94, 131. 

Winthrop, Adam, father of Gov. W., 
237. 

Winthrop, Col. Adam, 271, 386. 

Winthrop, Hon. Adam, 270. 

Winthrop, Henry, 269. 

Winthrop, John, his birth and ancestry, 
237. Educated for the law, 237. Lea- 
der of the settlement in Massachusetts, 
243, 278, 378. First governor of the 
colony, 242. Farewell address to his 
friencls of the Church of England, 244. 
Settlement at Newtown, 245. Remo- 
val to Boston, 247, 283. Consulted by 
New Plymouth magistrates, 83, 149. 
His character, 247 — 250. Left out of 



the magistracy, 251. One of the coun- 
cil for life, 267. Examination of his 
accounts, and honourable result, 252. 
Complained of for too much lenity, 
310. His humility, 252. His firm- 
ness and decision, 253. His ilitlicul- 
ties.wiih Aime Hutchinson and iter fol- 
lowers, 253 — 258, 288. Supersed- 
ed by Henry Vane, 254, 289. Elect- 
ed governor again, 255. Controversy 
with Vane, 320. Assists at a synod, 
256. His firm and correct conduct 
with the Church at Boston, 257. His 
opinion of democracy, 259. Of mag- 
istracy and lilieriy,260, 261. His pe- 
cuniary embarrassments, 264. His 
aHliciions, 265. Grants to his family, 
264. His death, 265. His picture 
preserved in the Senate Chamber of 
Massachusetts, 2G6. His History of 
New England, dilierent editions of, 
266. His Model of Christian Chari- 
ty, 267. Notices of his descendants, 
26S— 272. 

Winthrop, Gov. John, Jr., 269, 271, 
300, 363. 

Winthrop, Prof. John, 271. 

Winthrop, Samuel, 271, 272, 

Winthrop, Col. Stephen, 270. 

Winthrop, Wait, 386. 

Winthrop, William, 271. 

Wise, Rev. John, 412. 

Wiswall, Rev. Ichabod, agent in Eng- 
land for New Plymouth, 220, 221, 223. 

Witchcraft, first executions for, in New 
England, 344, 345. 

Witherell, Rev. Mr. anecdote of, 196. 
Elegy of, on Gov. J. Winslow, 196. 

Wood, Anthony, cited, 202, 239, 321. 

Woodbridge, Rev. Benjamin, 296. 

Woodbridge, Rev. John, notice of, 296. 

Worsely, Lt. Col., drives out House of 
Commons, 327. 

Worship, public, in the army, 185. En- 
forced by law, 209, 210. 

Woosamequen." See J\IassasoU. 

Wooster, Gen. 134. 

Wray, Sir Christopher, 334. 

Wray, Frances, 334. 

Wright, Nathl., 240. 

Wyllys, George, 308. 

Wyllys, Samuel, 312. 



Yarborough,"Lord, 313. 

Young, Rev. Alexander, 80, 82, 92. 

Young, Sir John, 238, 240. 



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